Unwinding Time
by Reveri
Summary: With none left to die for her cause, Sakura Haruno comes face to face with every shinobi's worst nightmare. She's given a chance to erase Konoha's deadly, flagrant future... by going back in time. Time Travel, 12 year old fic./•SasuSaku•NaruHina•NejiTen.
1. Prologue: Sacrifice

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

* * *

.:Summary:.

Summary: With no more people to die protecting her, Sakura Haruno finally learns the true meaning of a kunoichi. She's given a chance to erase Konoha's deadly, flagrant future... by going into her twelve/12 year old body. Pairings to be announced.

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.:Author's Note:.

I'd just like you to know that this fic DOES include pairings, but it's up to you to find out them. There will be a variety of pairings, but just be patient and wait for them to appear. **(If you want, you can leave a vote for which pairing(s) you'd like.)** Also, I **acknowledge **that the "12 year old body" idea has been used several times before I have, and I do admit that this idea is NOT mine. Nontheless, enjoy the birth of "Unwinding Time" and leave your opinion. C:

**PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE ADVANCING:**

The first chapter talks about true happenings in the manga (around Chapters 400 to 460). It will not be the exact same as what happened during the manga, but I'll be taking some main points and then blending it into the story, **so if you dislike spoilers, you can skip to the second chapter and onward (when Sakura is basically, transported back in time already).**

_Italics = General thought_

_**Bold Italics = Inner Sakura**_

_EDIT #1: 3/16/2012 Minor spellchecks & grammar edits_

_EDIT #2: 3/22/2012 Fixed plotholes (i.e. Pein's sudden arrival), fleshed out Naruto's part + Pein's arrival_

* * *

**Prologue: Sacrifice**

* * *

A single rosette-haired ninja rose from her bed, her face looking mellow even before she opened her forest green eyes. As she rose in a trance-like state, she let out an audible gasp. It was the third time in a row she went to sleep with her battle clothes on – complete with headband, ninja gear, and boots. Sighing, she recalled the added intensity of her training.

Mentally groaning, she realized she hadn't showered in three consecutive days, either – meaning she probably stunk like hell. But even her own demanding protests could not force her to take a shower right now. Making no haste, she took a peek at the clock set on her wall and inwardly cursed herself. She had overslept!

Putting that aside, Sakura gazed forlornly at the battered old photograph of Team 7.

Everyone knew, deep in their hearts, that a lengthy, weary war was coming. The facts began to prove it.

Jiraiya's inexplicable downfall.

Naruto's sudden departure for sage training.

The increased Akatsuki and Sasuke sightings.

The rumor of the missing eight-tails Jinchuuriki, Killer Bee.

As a shinobi, Sakura simply could not stop checking the chakra signatures around her, or even glancing behind her back when shopping for medicinal ingredients.

Simply put, she was scared.

Konoha had been through a war during Sakura's lifetime – a battle between Sunagakure and Konohagakure. The Jounin were plenty, the ANBU flawless, and the citizens were safe and sound. Yet, even then the village was nearly ruined. The coral-haired teen shuddered as she walked into the kitchen of her tiny apartment complex, kneading through the tangled knots in her hair as she burst out the door.

Wars were like tripping over rocks. It was up to you to gather the will and move on, or simply lie on the ground, defeated. Sakura desperately hoped her beloved village, Konoha, would have the strength to move on.

Minutes later, said girl arrived at the Hokage's office only to find Lady Tsunade in a deep conversation with three ANBU. The three tensed, halting their hushed talk and glanced at Sakura, only to have Tsunade wave the ANBU away, muttering a barely audible "We'll discuss it later." As the three poofed away to their respective positions, Sakura raised a questioning eyebrow. Tsunade remained grim and unwavering. Leaning in towards the desk, Tsunade clasped her hands together.

"Tsunade-shishou," Sakura bowed. "I'm sorry, I overslept."

"It's okay. I had other matters to attend to. Besides, didn't I already give you permission yesterday for you to come later?"

Sakura flushed in embarrassment, remembering her shishou's stern words to rest herself for what was to come. "Then, should I head down to the library and finish training the new jutsu you had taught me?"

The instant she had suggested this, Tsunade's honeyed eyes dulled. The kunoichi frowned.

The Godaime let slip a bitter smile as she watched her student brace herself for whatever she was about to say. "No, Sakura, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for a minute." She paused.

"Uhm... Shishou?" Sakura ventured, albeit nervously.

Tsunade Senju let out an exasperated sigh. "I...You see, I've been sending ANBU patrols throughout Konoha's districts, even distributing some past our borders."

Sakura nodded apprehensively, not liking where this was going at all.

"Well… I would've called Naruto over to tell him this too, but anyway… we think Pein, the assumed leader of Akatsuki, is headed toward Konoha. I've no idea how, when, or why we've only been notified just now, but I've been feeling a growing sense of unease today and if it's not him I don't know what is."

The pinkette blanched, stumbling back a step or two, her fists trembling. "No way…"_ Right now? I knew things were getting tense, but I never anticipated it to be so soon! _

Sensing the kunoichi's distress, Tsunade offered a small, encouraging smile. "I've told the ANBU you saw earlier to warn all the civilians and prepare our evacuation site immediately within the faces of the Hokages, just to be safe. Chuunin and Jounin who are supposed to be or are not on missions are excused from going on them at the moment. I'm not the Hokage for nothing, Sakura."

"Tsu-Tsunade-sama… should I assist in getting the Genin and civilians safe and sound if Pein does plan to attack Konoha?"

"Yes. However, if Pein does attack, I would prefer you assist the other Chuunin or work with the medical staff and Katsuyuu. Now, go and prepare yourself. Once you're done, begin rounding up the hardest to move with the other Chuunin – such as the elders, disabled, pregnant mothers, and infants and meet with the others near the Academy. You're my apprentice… I expect great things from you."

Sakura bowed respectfully and walked calmly out the office, a delicate grin tugging at her lips. Only, she missed the grief, fear, and worry threatening to etch onto her beloved shishou's face.

* * *

Upon arriving at what she called home, the Haruno girl grabbed some scrolls and weapons as well as some soldier pills and a medicinal kit – all of which she stuffed in a small medical pouch. Just as she was about to leap out of the window, Sakura paused. The old photo of team 7 stared back at her, inviting her to stay. She smiled sadly, standing as still as stone, starting at that symbolic picture for a good minute or two. Then, hesitantly, she raised two fingers, and placed them gingerly on her lips. Slowly and cautiously, she lowered her hand – placing her two fingers on the lips of 12 year-old Sasuke.

_An indirect kiss, _she thought to herself. _How pathetic. _

But before she could linger any further, she jumped out of the window, landing on the rooftop of her neighbor, sprinting away into the distance.

* * *

Sakura then arrived at the passage where civilians were lead into safety, reassuring the confused elderly and disabled as well as the troubled children with a twinge of regret. No matter how hard she convinced herself, even she doubted the likelihood of Konoha's survival. What – what if Sasuke decided to –

"Oi, - Haruno," a Jounin shouted. "I've got the last few here! Only the shinobi and adult men and women remain. I'll be heading to the borders now."

Sakura nodded, glancing every now and then toward Konoha's gates. After leading a mellow brunette child into the tunnel, she heaved a sigh. "Hey," she directed at a female Chuunin, dressed in hues of turquoise. "do you know how long we've been working?"

The female grunted a quick "around 20 minutes", not bothering to ask why or look at Sakura, who thanked the chuunin and excused herself as she left for the Konoha Academy.

Already most of the Chuunin and Jounin had left by the time Sakura arrived, but thankfully for her, the kunoichi noticed a team of medics, apprentice medics and shinobi medic-nin nearby – among them Ino Yamanaka – already preparing stretchers as beds and a steady supplies of herbs and scrolls. The scene devastated Sakura somewhat. It only added to the weight that was threatening to crash down and let her realize that, no, this wasn't a dream, a bad nightmare. This was reality, coming hard like a chakra-infused punch.

"Ino-pig!" Sakura exclaimed, rushing to her side to embrace each other in a reassuring hug.

"We'll get through this, I promise," Sakura muttered, trying to stay confident for Konoha, her single and only home.

Ino smirked. "Forehead-girl… you were being doubtful again, weren't you?"

A scoff came from the pinkette. "No way… I was just… worried."

The blonde nodded, leading Sakura to the piles of scrolls. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Come on, we're preparing scrolls in the order of their properties – it'll be more efficient for us to heal and make space for others."

* * *

A man clad in Akatsuki garb landed gracefully from branch to branch, never faltering in his pace. Konoha simply irritated him. It challenged his theories… not to mention its alliance with the Sand. They did not go through enough pain, and he would grant his gift of pain to them. It was even better than severing Konoha's ties. After all, it was orders from Madara…

Realising that two of his duplicates had noticed several ANBU tracking them, Pein inwardly smirked. They were fools… the whole lot of them. He let them be, deducing them to just a tiny annoyance. In the long run, they would all be dead, anyway. The least they could do now was prolong their own lives by not provoking him.

Even that white haired toad man, Jiraiya, was equally pathetic. He had proclaimed to be all that, too. Yet, the deadly Akatsuki leader could not supress the nagging feeling that rose up inside of himself for his old sensei.

Konoha needed pain.

The man clad in the red-clouded black cloak entered the premises of Konoha, gazing upon the oh-so-_pathetic _men that called themselves ninja hiding among trees, buildings, and walls, all intently analyzing him and his six Paths.

Immediately, 4 guards of the gate approached with extreme speed only the Sharingan could decipher properly, but it simply didn't matter to Pein. His clone immediately countered them using an inhuman force similar to that of Tsunade's punch - sending the courageous shinobi flying into buildings and trees. This was dismal. Too dismal for Pein to even consider thinking about.

The streets were empty of civilians. It had been obvious that Konoha had taken extra precautions before his arrival. It didn't matter what this village did anymore. Concluding his thoughts, he performed his deadly blow.

It was like a meteor had hit Konohagakure – the village was in ruins.

The job was done. Only…

"Hold it right there," a booming voice rung out with authority. It was a man… no, a kid. Slowly, without emotion, Pein spun around – having direct eye contact with the object of Akatsuki's desire - Naruto Uzumaki.

* * *

Just as Sakura and the rest of the medics completed their preparation, an ANBU teleported in front of Sakura, his porcelain Tiger mask gleaming in the intense sunlight.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, her voice raised with worry.

"Akatsuki leader Pein has entered Konoha. Brace yourselves. I will leave the rest to you." the ANBU stated, leaving shattered hopes and uneasy thoughts in the minds of the weary medicinal-nin.

However, no one got the chance, as the ground beneath them shook, completely ruining the buildings that slammed face down into the earth, eliciting several screams of terror.

"Everyone, get as low as possible!" Sakura screamed, taking cover by glueing her limbs to the ground with chakra. Many of the medics in the vicinity did the same.

* * *

It was like a big hole had implanted itself right in the heart of Konoha.

"Shoot," Ino muttered, glancing around at the scrolls strewn around the ground. This was not good.

'Not good' was the biggest understatement of the year. Buildings had collided upon each other like dominoes, only each time they made contact, both would dissolve into mighty chunks of rubble that seemed to hoarde the ground like they owned it.

For several minutes, the entire medic team stayed put, only moving to take deep breathes.

Sakura was the first to leave her position. She coughed from the sudden onslaught of dust; beckoning towards the others, she put on a small mask that would cover her mouth.

As the minutes wore on, a number of shinobi injured from Pein's big explosion were carried on stretchers by the rookie medic-nins who scouted all around Konoha. Fortunately, most of them did not receive any fatal injuries, and within minutes Sakura only had to heal broken and cracked bones as well as a few concussions. However, just as Sakura barely heaved a sigh after two hours of painstaking healing, her shadow grew into the form of two merged shadows of two different people.

"Ino–chan? Could you –" Until she froze. This… this was a foreign chakra signature!

A lean, skinny orange-haired man stood, gazing emotionlessly down at Sakura's petite form. She stood there, paralyzed as the man slowly, slowly reached his hand towards Sakura's trembling back. She couldn't move. As the bony hand inched closer and closer, the kunoichi could not flee from her spot. She squeezed her eyes shut, awfully aware of the fact that she could merely escape with a sprint. Yet, it was like the man was restraining her with his chakra.

Until, she heard a deadly screech of "SAKURA!" and a small, delicate thud.

Sakura's ninja instincts finally kicked in, and she leaped back several steps… only to find Ino strewn across the ground, the strange man holding… _something _in his raised arm. It was like… he had ripped Ino's soul out.

_No way… she's not…she's NOT dead…_

"INO!" Suddenly she averted her gaze to the silent male, who still had this… ghost like form clenched in his right, outstretched hand.

"You… you BASTARD!" she shrieked, immediately gathering bright blue chakra into her right, gloved hand, and charging forward with no accuracy at all. Any sense of logic she would have had disappeared in a second's time. But… as she sprinted forward with all her might, Sakura hit soft bark instead – creating a perfect, round hole straight through the tree's core.

The Akatsuki-garbed man jumped easily out of the way, both effortlessly and without care. It irritated Sakura to no end, as she glared at him. Taking deep labored breaths, she got ready to punch. Before she could charge, however, The man's eyes widened in shock, and dissolved into dust. She gaped at the sight, spinning around to make sure it was not a genjutsu, even muttering "kai". What on earth happened? This was not the time to dwell on that though, as she then spun around to hear numerous gasps and see several medics rushing to huddle over the blonde's still form.

"GET AWAY!" she screamed, pushing a couple of them aside, not caring how mad she looked at that moment.

Ino wasn't breathing.

Panicking, Sakura forced herself to sit down calmly, and then crouch over to listen to her lifelong friend's heartbeat.

Nothing.

… _ghost-like form clenched in his right, outstretched hand. _

He had taken Ino's consciousness away.

"No, NO!" the rosette pounded her fists on the packed earth, tears threatening to leak down on her face, to show her weakness.

She couldn't believe it. She had lost her best friend. Immediately, the girl's hands reached over to the blonde kunoichi's heart, her soothing green chakra trying desperately to heal any wounds. But there was none. Her chakra had no effect whatsoever on Ino.

An apprentice of the pinkette smiled dejectedly. "Sakura-san… there's nothing you can do. She saved you."

Sakura stared miserably at Ino's peaceful face, brushing away the excess strands of hair that covered the blonde's shut eyes.

"I-Ino… I'm… I'm sorry…" she wailed, hugging what was left of Ino Yamanaka. "I was weak, yet again. And just like that… I lost you…"

But before Sakura could do anything more, a ninja donning the common green Chuunin vest poofed into view, a relief-filled emotion written all over his features.

"Everyone, head over to the Konoha Gates immediately. Pein has been defeated. Also, Haruno Sakura is requested to come at once to heal Naruto-sama among others."

Her head throbbed and for a moment, she was inclined to punch the man in the face, but a small part of logic that remained in her head realized that Naruto was back. Also, the Chuunin had just used a suffix for Naruto that would probably have never been used unless out of great respect… could Naruto have defeated Pein? It would explain why her friend's murderer, a look-a-like to Pein, vanished so suddenly. Yet, even her foxy-faced friend could not separate her from Ino. Gazing back at Ino, more tears poured out. _This is my entire fault. Just one mistake took her life. Anyone who saw me just now wouldn't hesitate to think I was the same pathetic girl from 4 years ago. _

"G-give me a minute, and I promise I'll go help to the b-best I can…" she whispered, hiccupping in the process.

Indeed, Sakura was true to her word. After a minute or so, she stood up abruptly, absentmindedly wiping her tears away with her bare hands.

Finally raising her head to stare at the calming, azure sky, her emerald eyes glowing with determination, she smiled.

Though she would never forgive herself for paying the price of Ino's life, she would learn from her mistake…

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, beginning to sprint as fast as her legs could carry her, only stopping to an abrupt halt. 10 feet away, the self-proclaimed Rokudaime stood dejectedly in front of a long deep violet-haired girl, who lay with a sickening blood stain near her lungs.

_Hinata…_

Upon hearing his female teammate's voice, Naruto looked up and grinned sadly, "Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled, and then hurriedly proceeded to heal the Hyuuga heiress. Most of her chakra had been used on attempting to heal Ino as well is the actually injured, but she willed herself to exert all the chakra she had. The blonde, seeing Sakura's distress, placed his hands on Sakura's.

"Here," he muttered. The pinkette immediately felt a new surge of chakra enter her consciousness, and felt it now extremely easy to heal Hinata.

From her judgement, Hinata had been like this for a good thirty minutes or so, and had probably coughed out some blood. Something in the heiress' lungs wasn't allowing Sakura's medic-chakra to enter the body. Even Naruto's amount of chakra did nothing to solve the problem, except help her heal some minor abrasions. Furrowing her eyebrows, Sakura growled to whoever would listen, "She needs the Resuscitation Regeneration Technique!" When no one moved, the kunoichi snapped, "Now!"

As medics gently placed Hinata on a stretcher, said girl barely opened her eyes a crack. "N-Naruto-kun…"

Sakura smiled forlornly. "Don't worry Hinata-chan, it's all over. What's most important right now is your health."

The kunoichi stared at her comrade, watching the slow rise and fall of the heiress' chest as the shadow of her body grew smaller in the distance.

Meanwhile, Naruto was evidently relieved. "I was worried," he admitted, taking a seat on the rubble to allow Sakura's and the Kyuubi's chakra to heal him. "Hinata jumped in and tried to protect me, but I don't know why! I never felt so respected since Sasuke was still –" His face paled, his eyes downcast. "Sorry…"

Sakura visibly frowned at the thought of Sasuke, but then sighed. "Anyway, you'll find out someday. Ask Hinata, okay?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sure… but… what's the Resu… Resu technique thing?"

The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "It's the same thing they did to heal Neji 3 years ago, after trying to retrieve... _him._"

"Aa," Naruto muttered. An awkward silence ensued until Naruto heard a distinct cheer. The shinobi was about to _ask_ what was the matter, until Sakura turned around, and grinned.

"Look, Naruto. Konoha loves you."

Naruto was simply shocked, his mouth forming a perfect, round, "o". His eyes watered.

"Everyone…"

* * *

Team Taka leaped among treetops and tree branches, among them a raven haired Uchiha. Sasuke glowered at the ruins of what he once called home. A tiny voice resounded in his head. _What will you do if everyone is dead? _But he shook that from his mind. He only cared for Elders who betrayed his clan. Or did he?

"Karin," he spoke in a monotone voice. "Are there any chakra signatures ahead in Konohagakure?"

The redhead closed her eyes, pausing on her step on the worn-down wood. "Yes… there are several; no wait..." she opened her eyes. "There are a village's worth of people all together in one area near the entrance."

Sasuke scoffed. _Probably mourning the deaths of the dead. _And he continued on his journey, though in somewhat of a faster pace.

* * *

Naruto lay on the sweet dewy grass, facing an upright Sakura. "You know… Kakashi-sensei, Neji, and Tenten, they… they died."

"What?" she stood up, gaping at a serious Naruto. "You're joking! We didn't see them when we celebrated, yeah, but - !"

"… Before you guys arrived, we had a brief funeral for the dead." By now, tiny beads of delicate teardrops had decided to make its way down the ridged whiskers upon Naruto's cheeks. He clawed at the ground harshly, bits of dirt and grass being flung everywhere. Sakura narrowed her eyes.

"Shh..., Naruto...," she coaxed, patting his back gently. She sighed in relief when he'd calmed down enough to stop harming himself. She pushed away the thoughts in her head that always resurfaced, though, not wanting to consider the fact that he'd already hurt himself and reversed the damage before his medic-nin of a teammate could lay her eyes upon him.

She couldn't help the childish tone that escaped her. "… W-what happened?"

"First it was Ka-kakashi." The blonde took a gulp of fresh air. It took all the restorative and calming chakra Sakura could muster to swell down the effects of the Kyuubi's red chakra that began to overflow. "I don't know what happened, but then Tenten found him and tried to get him to safety… but was attacked, and then she was forced to fight. Neji saved her… but both of them ended up…" he blinked away the hot tears. "They…"

Sakura popped back down on the ground, sniffling. "… Ino died too," she whispered, obtaining a grimace from her hot-blooded confidant. "I thought it'd never happen. But… I won't let Ino's death go to a waste! I'll be stronger!" she proclaimed.

The kyuubi-container stared at the cloudless, azure sky, his cerulean portraying great sadness. "That's… exactly what I'm afraid of…"

"Huh?" _What happened to him?_

"All we ever do is fight, and kill. When I was twelve, all I wanted was to be the Hokage, to be respected. But now? What's the point of being respected if all I do is to send ninja on missions that bring sadness to other countries? When we are defeated and lose, we mourn. But even if we are happy, there is always someone that receives pain. Those that suffer end up making others suffer as well… and then it starts all over again."

"Naruto… I…" Inside, a part of Sakura's heart felt... to put it simply, broken. An ache spread through her chest like wildfire.

But this wasn't the same kind of heartache as the feelings one got after a breakup, or a rejection from someone you loved. This was like losing the pillar of support that you had relied on for years and years until you didn't even realize it was there anymore, and now it wasn't, leaving her to trip to the ground in agony.

Because for the first time in her life, Naruto couldn't even pretend to be happy. For gods sake, he was even doubting _his own dream!_ When had Naruto ever done that? Never in living memory.

"I wonder if Sasuke is truly happy with his revenge… because all he is doing is spreading his own hate…"

A barely audible thud that could only be heard by shinobi resounded behind them, causing the pair to freeze in their spots.

* * *

"Hn."

Simultaneously, emerald and sapphire eyes widened as they heard the all-too-familiar click of someone gripping the hilt of a blade behind them.

This familiar chakra signature…

"Sasuke…" Sakura whispered, daring herself to turn around and see if it was a illusion, after all…

"Sasuke-teme…" Naruto growled, his eyes changing to a blood red state.

"Che… still so emotional." He stole a quick glance at the location of the Hokage's carved faces, activating his Sharingan. _The Elders have to be there… Itachi… I'll avenge you…_

Naruto, noticing this, snarled at his former teammate. "You are NOT doing anything to the villagers, teme!"

The last Uchiha merely smirked at the blonde, as if saying, _Try me, _before giving out orders to three oddly coloured hair missing nin. He nodded at a silver headed man clothed in ridiculously tight fabrics who in turn, smirked at Naruto and Sakura, thoroughly irritating Naruto. Sakura, however, bore holes into Sasuke's back, much to Karin's dislike.

"Oi! Pinky!" the digusted redhead snapped. "Sasuke-kun's mine!"

Said girl gaped for a fraction of a second before whizzing her head back to Naruto, trying to tell him with her eyes as best as she could to signify to attack, or just do something that would distract the man before them.

Somehow, Naruto understood in his enraged state, and charged at the nukenin he had spent almost half of his life chasing after.

* * *

Kunai clashed against katana, producing a clanging sound that rung in Sakura's ears. She calmed herself down for a moment, focusing her attention entirely on the three nukenin that began to head towards the innermost of Konoha. Giving a final glance at Sasuke, she ran after them.

"Oi, you three… where do you think you guys are going?" Sakura shouted, as boldly as she dared speak. The silver-haired and crimson-haired nin stared back at Sakura, the silver man grinning, and the redhead narrowing her eyes, shouting, "I've had enough just _looking _at this girl! Suigetsu, Juugo, you guys go, I'll take care of this oversized doll."

It was Sakura's turn to be irritated as she drew a kunai from her weapons holster. "Oversized doll? I'm a Chuunin of Konohagakure, apprentice of the Fifth Hokage!" She threw the kunai with precise accuracy, knowing it would obviously miss. And she was right. The redhead jumped out of the way, scoffing. "Is that all you've got?" Only to realize Sakura was gone. Eyes narrowing, the firehaired girl whizzed her head in all directions. "Hiding is for wimps," she stated, taunting Sakura.

"Look over here, Redhead," came Sakura's voice.

Karin spun around to meet Sakura's jade eyes, about to make a witty comment when she saw the seal Sakura was making.

"Oh no you don't!" She yelled, glaring at Sakura. "I'll –"

But before she could finish, Sakura had put her into the depths of a genjutsu – Sakura's specialty.

A glimpse of a grin lay on Sakura's face before her gazed hardened. _Two more..._

* * *

Sakura glared at the Kakashi-haired man, Suigetsu, who had told his orange-haired companion to go ahead. Completely concealed by the tree, she watched him intently as the man leaned against the fence, heaving a sigh.

"I'm aware you're here, Sasuke's ex-teammate."

Sakura stifled a gasp, and then sighed, jumping out of the branch she was perching on. She stood with dignity in front of Suigetsu.

"What do you want with us?"

Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "Ask Sasuke – that is, if he doesn't kill you -"

He stopped abruptly, and smirked. "Well well well… look who's here, Pinky. Just the man you've been looking for."

Sakura spun around, only to meet face to face with _the _Sasuke Uchiha.

"What have you done to Naruto!" Sakura bellowed, slightly frantic. _Why is Sasuke here? Is he so strong that he could have beaten Naruto without putting up a fight?_

"Hn. I'm afraid Naruto wasn't as strong as he boasted to be."

Sakura gaped at Sasuke. And then she growled, rage welling up inside of her, until she lifted up a trembling fist towards Sasuke's pale face.

Only to be stopped by Sasuke, who clenched on to her wrists unmercifully.

"This is for your own good."

The kunoichi widened her forest green eyes, but not for long before Sasuke made a hand seal, causing her eyes to become dull and droopy, until finally… she toppled over_._

_Sasuke... kun... _

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

And that concludes the prolouge of Unwinding Time! Thank you all soooo soooo much for bearing with me for my first story ever :)

Anyway, like I've mentioned before. If you would like to vote for ANY pairing that will be featured in this story, whether it be NaruSaku to Shizune x Kankuro (lol random much), feel pree to leave a review!

Also, yes, if you're wondering, Hinata did not confess to Naruto. : i don't want them to die off right after confession. it's just. uncool. ;p If there are a lot of votes for NaruHina, i'll reconsider, and probably add it during "back in time mode."


	2. Reunion

Unwinding Time

by Reveri

Standard Disclaimer Applies

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.:Summary:.

Summary: With no more people to die protecting her, Sakura Haruno finally learns the true meaning of a kunoichi. She's given a chance to erase Konoha's deadly, flagrant future... by going into her twelve/12 year old body. Pairings to be announced

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.:Author's Note:.

Welcome back to Unwinding Time! This is where all the fun sexy action begins! :D Most of the events from here onward are in sync with Naruto episodes 1 – 20 ish. Wow, that's way back, isn't it? Of course, if you haven't watched/read Naruto before, this will be a huge spoiler for you, so you might want to skip to, well, I dunno, to the end of the story! Then again, if you haven't even read Naruto before, you wouldn't be at this fanfiction, reading my un-pro story, would you?

… I thought so. :)

**ACTUAL SPOILERS: **Pein is discussed in this chapter. Also, :SPOILER: : Tobi (Uchiha Madara) has already been killed off. :D This is called the sexy Plot-no-Jutsu to ensure that if Sasuke & Orochimaru are stopped, everything will be alright. :) Actually, this whole story will essentially have an occasional spoiler or two, especially during messages between Tsunade and Sakura, so really, if you're the type who absolutely hates ANY discreet little spoiler, Unwinding Time is (sadly) not right for you. :(

* * *

**Votes: **

Thanks to TwinkleTwinkle-Chan, my first awesome reviewer & voter! *claps*

NaruSaku [friendship only]: 1

NaruHina: 1

Remember, any pairing you can think of counts! Anyway, enjoy!

_Italics = General thought_

_**Bold Italics = Inner Sakura **_

_Edit #1: July 26th, 2011. Sakura's actions made a bit less OOC. _

_Edit #2: March 16th, 2012. Minor spellchecks._

_Edit #3: Team 10 is no longer Team 9; minor grammar/spellcheck edits._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Reunion **

A 16 year old girl lay in what was left of the Konoha hospital. She was draped in plain white sheets. White opaque cloth formed a tent surrounded her, its' fabric soft and silky. The ground beneath her was hard, though covered by a soft beige canvas cloth.

The teenager grunted, furrowing her eyebrows as she slowly gained consciousness. Grumbling, she brushed a few messy coral locks out of her eyes, muttering, "Now why in the god damn hell do I feel so darn tired?"

Who was this moody, grumpy little "lady", you ask?

Why of course. Sakura Haruno, Konoha kunoichi. And to prove it, you could ask her. She would proudly show you her Hitai-ate.

But anyway, bright emerald eyes sprung wide open, glancing around at the surroundings.

… _What happened?_

Sakura slowly began to recall yesterday's previous events.

_Let's see. I woke up, went to Tsunade, _she thought, her finger placed delicately on her chin, her eyes looking skyward in thought.

_Then… the Akatsuki… leader… was coming… _Sakura tensed. In an instant, a blur of images came to her.

_Ino, who had died to protect Sakura…_

_Hinata, on the stretcher.._

_Naruto, who defeated Pein.._

…

_and Sasuke, who…killed… _

Sakura bolted straight out of her makeshift bed, unzipping the flimsy zipper that kept her in the tent. She stumbled outside in hospital garb.

She gazed forlornly at the sight before her.

Thousands of shinobi lay brutally wounded on stretchers, beds, sleeping bags, and whatever else could be used. The only ones standing were some medics, civilians, and small troops of shinobi, as well as Shizune… and Tsunade…

"Shishou!" Sakura yelled, unshed tears beginning to form on her eyes.

The almighty Hokage spun around to meet Sakura, an evident, half-hearted smile of relief on her face.

"Sakura.."

"Oh, Tsunade-sama! Where's Naruto? Ino? Kakashi? Hinata?" Sakura gulped, "Sasuke?"

Tsunade's face immediately turned grim. "Hinata survived the surgery… and Sasuke… that traitorous man… I don't know."

Sakura frowned. "But… but shishou, what about everyone else?"

The fifty-year old woman began to shake and tremble.

"Dead," she whispered. "Dead."

* * *

For a while, Sakura helped heal the wounded to the best of her abilities. But finally, she could take it no more. Excusing herself before tears could erupt, she ran to the training grounds to find her fallen comrades.

Sakura crouched down next to Naruto first, his face peaceful, and blood wiped off his cheeks and body.

"Oh Naruto…" Sakura choked. For minutes she gazed at Naruto, clutching onto his sleeve.

Sakura felt a gentle pat on her back, craning her head sideways, to see her beloved shishou.

"Shishou..." the pinkette wailed. "Why did he have to die? Why wasn't anyone there to save him? After all he did for us!"

"Because, Sakura, he wanted to prove himself. But most of all… he wanted to be the one to save Sasuke. Not any other shinobi. After all, he still remembered the promise."

It was like time had frozen for Sakura. "Our promise…"

_Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I promise I'll get Sasuke back for you!_

_I can't, Sakura… I can't just give up on Sasuke… because I made a promise to you…_

_Sakura-chan, I won't ever forget my promise._

_My promise..._

_Promise…_

"I can't believe it… it's all my fault… I never do anything right… even now, I'm the cause of everyone's downfall…"

"No, Sakura." Tsunade was smiling at her.

"Shishou?" Sakura whispered, confusion on her face from her shishou's smile.

"Sakura… I've thought of a way. It's forbidden though… but, Sakura, it will fix everything if it is done right… and I, Sakura, entrust you to this heavy task."

The pinkette's eyes widened. _A way to fix everything…_

"Please, tell me!" Sakura begged, getting more and more excited by the minute.

Tsunade sighed, taking out a black, dusty scroll. "I'm going to send you back into time. To when you were 12 years old, a mere Genin."

Sakura gaped like a fish, slowly comprehending…

"To… to stop…"

"Yes, you're correct. Orochimaru."

"… I see…" Sakura whispered. "But… shishou, wasn't Pein the main assaulter? Even if I manage to save Sasuke, we still can't stop Akatsuki…"

Tsunade chuckled. "Sakura. Sasuke defeated the already dieing Nagato, who was over control of Pein. Sasuke had Akatsuki at his fingertips. Trust me."

Sakura frowned. _So Sasuke has become __**that **__dark and twisted… _she sighed.

"Alright."

"Well then." Tsunade stood up straight, her eyes determined and fierce as she gazed upon her student.

"I, Tsunade, the Hokage of Konohagakure, entrust to you, Sakura Haruno, Chuunin of Konohagakure, to undertake the mission to defeat Orochimaru and protect Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hai!"

"Now, we'll begin the procedure."

* * *

"Stand in that small stream, Sakura." Tsunade ushered.

Sakura nodded, and stood, her legs shivering against the cold water on her toes. The scroll lay soaked in the stream, the paper under the material of Sakura's boots, and the kanji on it glowing. A translucent fog surrounded Sakura, causing water droplets to form on her hair. Tsunade was barely visible from inside the fog.

"Alright Sakura. Remember, we can always communicate through the scroll I gave you. Just simply write the message you want on it. I will receive the same message on my scroll. Once I've finished reading, your message will fade away, and I will write a new one. Then, you'll feel like your nose is on fire, and it won't stop until you've opened the scroll. Now, perform the hand seals I taught you. You can take however long is needed to kill off Orochimaru and protect Sasuke, which will probably take," Tsunade muttered, "a couple years."

The pinkette sniffed, wiping a tear.

"A-anyway, when you've complete this mission, place the returning s-scroll in the exact place where this stream is, a-a-and perform the same hand signs. Don't worry; the fog comes n-naturally." The blonde woman paused for a moment to choke a sob. "If my calculations are correct, you'll be sent back 4 years back from this exact day… the day you guys are sorted into teams…"

'N-n-now… go, Sakura! Save us all!"

"Shishou…"

The fog became denser by the minute; finally, it swirled around Sakura –

"Sakura, I believe in you! You're my apprentice!"

Until finally, the kunoichi blacked out.

* * *

Sakura Haruno opened her eyes to see the freshly mowed grass of the training fields next to her face. Her fingertips were emerged in the cold stream she'd been standing on seconds ago.

"Amazing," she breathed.

And it truly was. At once Sakura grabbed the scroll Tsunade had been talking about moments before, scrawling a brief message to Tsunade with a paintbrush in hand.

_Shishou-sama,_

_This is Sakura. I've arrived safely, do not worry. But, how will I get rid of my former 12 year old self? I'm still in my 16 year old garb, and it feels slightly on the loose side. I can manage, though. _

_Sakura._

Sakura sighed, rolling up the scroll and dusting off bits of grass and dirt off her plum-coloured skirt. Seconds later, there was a hot, tingling sensation on Sakura's nose.

"Ack!" she gasped, unrolling the scroll, marveling at how Tsunade's writing had appeared on the parchment.

_Sakura,_

_Surely you have found out already? You are __**in**__ your twelve year old body. Anyway, it might take some time getting used to, but I'm sure constant training will help. Now, hurry, if I might recall correctly, Konoha Academy starts at 9a.m. sharp, no?_

_Good Luck,_

_Tsunade. _

The rosette gasped, staring at her reflection among the clear waters of the stream. She toyed with her long, light pink hair.

"Ow!" she gasped, rubbing her nose. "What now?"

She glanced back at the scroll.

_Stop gazing at your reflection and go to the academy… now!_

_Love,_

_Tsunade._

Sakura gasped in astonishment at how, after all these years, Tsunade knew her so well. She gave a raspy choke that was meant to be a laugh, and then in no time, she began giggling, stuffing the scroll into her medical pouch and dashing off in the direction of home.

* * *

The coral-haired chuunin, or rather, academy student-graduate, exited her house with a grin plastered on her face (after being bombarded with a series of questions from her mother such as, "Where were you this morning?" and "Do you know how worried I've been?"). She had changed into her former qipao dress and black shorts as to not stir so much attention, while keeping on her black gloves and boots for her legendary chakra-infused kicks and punches.

Yup, Sakura Haruno was ready.

She hummed a soft tune while strolling down the road, crossing the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

Coincidentally, Ino, a pretty blonde ex-friend of Sakura's came out of the shop, smirking at Sakura.

"Forehead-girl."

Sakura stopped, dead in her tracks. _Oh god no… Ino…_

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Ino mocked, raising an eyebrow, nowhere near noticing how forlorn Sakura looked at the moment.

The pink-haired girl gulped, and then came back to her senses.

"Oh, of course not, Ino-pig. I was thinking. You don't seem to do a lot of that, do you?"

Ino blushed furiously, and decided to let it pass this one time. "Well, well, well. Someone seems to be in a bad mood today. See you later… or not."

Sakura smirked at her best friend, her heart aching with a pang as Ino Yamanaka blended in with the crowd. That is, until she received a revelation.

_Oh, no! I shouldn't be messing up past events… I don't want to seem to suspicious. But then again, _Sakura thought, looking skyward as she walked ahead, _if I don't reveal my true nature and abilities now, what will happen when I actually begin to fight Orochimaru? N-naruto and Sas-suke will definitely become suspicious… _

_What should I do?_

Before Sakura could even begin to ponder further, she bumped into a mellow, raven-haired child with onyx eyes –

Oh gods. It was Sasuke.

* * *

The survivor of the Uchiha clan glared at Sakura, clearly irritated.

"Oh, uh…" _Quick! Think of something!_

"Hey, Sasuke! Ahaha, I mean, Sasukkee-kuun~! How are you! Isn't it so awesome that we're graduating today?"

"…"

"Anyway, catch you later!"

Sakura continued her short trip to the Academy, until seconds later, she muttered, "Hey Sasuke.._kun._ Why are you so late?"

"Are you deranged?" he muttered.

The rosette's eyes widened. _That reminds me… his clan was massacred years from today! _

But before the kunoichi could turn around, the brooding Uchiha was already heading in the direction of the Academy.

"S-Sasu..ke.." she whispered.

* * *

By the time Sakura reached class, most of the students were already assembled.

"Oi," shouted Iruka, looking less stressful than he would be 4 years later, "Sakura Haruno! Get to your seat! I've already started assigning you into groups!

"Hai, Sensei…"

_**Oh, great! Now you pissed off our beloved Sasuke-kun, AND we're late!**_

Sakura jumped in her seat as she took a spot – unknowingly, next to Naruto, who blushed.

_Holy… who was that horrible fangirlish voice in my head?_

_**Inner Sakura, you wimbo! How could you have forgotten? … Hey, that reminds me… you don't sound like me! You sound older! Who are you and what have you done with me? **_

…

Sakura sighed, tuning out Inner Sakura's high pitched voice as she listened to Iruka drone on.. until..

"Team 7, with Hatake Kakashi,"

"Uchiha Sasuke,"

A chorus of fangirls who Sakura had no idea of how they had even passed the test screamed.

"Uzumaki Naruto,"

The same crazy preteens gaped and choked on their own saliva.

"and Haruno Sakura."

An uproar ensued, including shrieks of joy from Naruto, a "Hn" from Sasuke, and screams of terror from fangirls. Meanwhile, Sakura smiled serenely while Inner Sakura did the tango. She'd never thought she would live to see this magical moment ever again. She smiled as a wave of nostalgia passed over her.

And as Iruka tried his best to calm the raging fangirls to no avail, Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder. She spun around to see Ino.

"What, Ino-pig?"

"Well, forehead-girl, you should feel lucky that I didn't pummel you yet. I'd rather you be in Sasuke's team out of all the other stupid girls here… because it means he'll be seeing the weakest girl in Konoha."

Sakura twitched, but did not make eye-contact with her 'rival'. "Why, _thank you, _Pig-face." She turned around, grumbling, and tuned in to Naruto and Iruka-sensei's heated conversation.

"- well I'm the top in this class! So why do I have to be with that chicken-butt haired guy?"

"Hn!"

"Naruto, _Sasuke's _the top in this class. You're the at the _bottom _of it!"

"Hey! You're speaking to the future Godaime here!"

"That's it!" Iruka muttered. "Team 8, with Kurenai Yuuhi, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga..."

* * *

That afternoon, Sakura sat on a stone porch, a wave of nostalgia flooding over her as she took out the scroll and began to write.

_Tsunade,_

_Everything went alright as usual. But I'm having a slight dilemma. Should I reveal my abilities now, so that Kakashi-sensei and the others don't suspect things later? Or should I reveal them only when necessary, so that they won't suspect things __**now?**_

_From,_

_Sakura._

Sakura had barely scrawled her name onto the flimsy paper before her previous writing faded off and Tsunade's hurried writing appeared on the page, stroke after stoke.

_Sakura, _

_As you are going to be affecting the entire universe right now, you should probably start training. On a lighter note, introduce your abilities gradually. It shouldn't be too hard for you as your chakra and strength is already much less than what you're used to. _

"Sakura-chan! Wanna eat lunch with me?" yelled Naruto, startling Sakura as she quickly put away the scroll.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I think I want to go train. You know, in time for the missions to come!" Sakura quickly muttered.

"Ah… I see…"

"Sorry!" The kunoichi quickly dashed off, unable to make direct eye contact with the hyperactive ninja. _I'm sorry, Naruto. It's just t_

_that I can't talk to you normally without thinking of your dead body… _she slowed down to a walking speed, and shuddered.

_**If one thing's for sure, you sure are a depressed bum. **_

_Ugh… enough is enough. I don't want to have a fragment of my twelve-year old self lingering around, pestering me. _

_**But you know… if you really want to save our dear precious Sasuke-kun, you'll have to act like a proper kunoichi!**_

… _I can't believe I'm saying this, but for once in your life, you're right. I can't believe I'm taking advice from myself four years ago. _

_**Aha, well… times change. Besides, don't you have some training for Sasuke-kun protection to do?**_

* * *

The next day, Sakura entered the classroom, treating Naruto slightly kinder than before and making some small talk with Hinata, who she'd grown accustomed to over the years. She winced as her aching muscles hurt with every move. Little did she know, a Sasuke gazed at her every move, a questioning look on his otherwise emotionless face every time Sakura swore at the pain.

Slowly, group after group left the vincity, until Team 7 finally remained. Naruto paced around the room, scowling every now and then as he checked the clock. Kakashi was _3 hours late. _

But for Sakura, already a long-time participant of team 7's boring waits for their teacher, simply fell asleep on the desks – something Shikamaru would have done. But those few hours of sleep regenerated a hefty sum of chakra. And those few hours were about to extend into a whole afternoon – that is, until –

_Bam! _The door slided open, startling Sakura out of her sleep. _Oh good, _she thought, _sensei's FINALLY here. _

As Sakura stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed something, and decided to voice it.

"Why is it so quiet here?"

"Hn."

"… oh my gosh! Naruto, why is there chalk dust all over Kakashi-sensei?" _Just great. I forgot Naruto was still a little prankster. _

"Ehehehehe, sorry, Sakura-chan…"

"You guys…" Kakashi thundered, brushing the dust out of his already chalky-looking silver hair, "are idiots."

_**Naruto, you dumbass! I'm going to pummel you if I ever get the chance!**_

_Agreed._

* * *

Kakashi and his so called "idiot" students arrived at the roof of the academy, the trio sitting on the concrete steps and the silver-haired man leaning against the railing.

"So, kids, why don't we introduce ourselves to each other? For example, talk about your likes, your dislikes, your dreams, as well as your hobbies."

When none of them replied, Kakashi prodded, "Go on. It's not like I'll bite you guys or anything."

Sakura glanced at her teammates, one of them glaring back at Kakashi-sensei and the other being, well, emotionless.

"Uhh, sensei, why don't you start?"

Said sensei sighed. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. Let's see... I have many likes as well as dislikes, but none of you need to know them. My dreams… nada. My hobbies… well, there are so many that I'd take forever to list them, so, I won't tell you. Go ahead, Naruto."

Naruto's jaw dropped to the floor, as did his other two newfound teammates. Then, when it seemed like the legendary Copy-ninja would not be elaborating any further, he began to introduce himself. "Well, uh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, Sakura-chan, Iruka-sensei, I hate emo little bastards," he muttered, glaring at Sasuke, "my dream is to become the Hokage so that everyone will respect me for who I am, and my hobbies are training and pulling pranks!"

Sakura giggled. Typical Naruto. "My name is Sakura Haruno, and I like puzzles and sweet-smelling grass. Like Naruto, I'm not really fond of… emotion deprived people –"

"You got that right, Sakura-chan!"

"And my dream is to be able to protect the ones I love. Oh, right. My hobbies are reading, training, and hanging out with Hinata and Ino- nevermind." Sakura bit her lip; Naruto knew pretty well that Sakura and Ino were rivals.

"Hey, Sakura-chan? Don't you hate Ino?" Naruto questioned, eyebrows raised.

"..." The kunoichi looked downcast, only to be saved by their new teacher.

"Sasuke… _Uchiha. _What about you?" Kakashi read, glancing at Sasuke's statistics from the sheet Iruka had given him.

"Hn. I like… nothing. I hate… everything… my dream is to avenge my brother and revive my clan, and my hobbies… are doing stuff."

"Awwwe teme, don't you have anything better to say? I mean, you don't want to be as boring as Kakashi-sensei, do you?"

"Hn."

Kakashi smiled under his thick mask, only it would never be noticed by his students. "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow morning at Training Grounds 3. Ah, and don't eat breakfast!" He poofed away.

Sakura and Sasuke simultaneously stood up, heading towards the door, until Naruto yelled,

"Hey, Sasuke! Doesn't reviving your clan mean..." the blonde grinned peevishly, "doing, well, you know..."

"No, I don't." Sasuke retorted, rolling his eyes.

"He means the birds and the bees," muttered Sakura, smiling a little.

"YES! EXACTLY!" Naruto grinned.

Sasuke blushed a little, turning red like the tomatoes he had a habit of eating. Sakura stared at the boy next to her in awe as he did so. He looked so... innocent. She quickly turned away, frowning. This went unnoticed by the rest of her team, as Sasuke began to scoff and quickly left, while Naruto fell over in his laughter.

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

Wheee! I didn't think I'd be finishing up this chapter so fast! :) This chapter probably took about 4 good ol' hours to write. Yup, I'm a slow writer, and ideas have a hard time coming through to my thick skull. But when ideas go manage to pop in, BOOM! I start typing away a couple paragraphs. Haha. But anyway, I'm not really satisfied because I couldn't really do anything about most of the events that happened – after all, it is a back in time story, and so things should mostly stay the same. But knowing me, I just couldn't resist adding little tidbits here and there, so don't be mad if it's not exactly the same. Again, plot-no-jutsu. Muhahahha :D

And remember, please vote for your desired pairing!

Reviews are appreciated, so is criticism. Really, I don't mind whatever you write in your review, as long as you are honest. :D


	3. Teamwork

Unwinding Time

by Reveri

Standard Disclaimer Applies

* * *

.:Summary:.

Summary: With no more people to die protecting her, Sakura Haruno finally learns the true meaning of a kunoichi. She's given a chance to erase Konoha's deadly, flagrant future... by going into her twelve/12 year old body. Pairings to be announced

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

Welcome back to Unwinding Time! This is the start of Sakura Haruno's adventures with Team 7! :) As you may know, I haven't updated for nearly a month. And for this, I am REALLY sorry. Firstly, I had half of the chapter done (3,000 words D:) on Microsoft Word, but my 3 year old computer's harddrive just so happened to fail the night I hit the halfway chapter mark. I couldn't get any of my data back, which was really devastating. For a week or so I felt kind of pissed and unwilling to rewrite it all over again. When I decided to work my lazy ass, all those end-of-term tests & exams came. :( But alas, it's spring break, so I'm back! I hope no one thought I'd be the kind of person who'd start a story and leave it unfinished! :O

Anyway. **Most of this chapter is pretty much in sync with what happened from the pre-Land of Waves Arc, BUT, you don't need to groan with boredom at lines you've already heard before. I'm, in fact, editing the entire script, though still keeping the main plot, events, and important quotes. ;) **

**ALSO: This chapter mentions things about Itachi & Sasuke that is found out in recent Naruto Shippuden Episodes. If you haven't read most of the manga before, or aren't in sync with the current Naruto episodes, you can either stop reading this fiction, or just bear with the immense spoilers. **

Enough of my blabbling - Enjoy Unwinding Time!

* * *

**Votes: **

NaruSaku [friendship]: 1

NaruHina: 1

You can still vote for your desired pairing! I will not be writing the story according to the voted pairings until a certain point.

_Italics = General thought_

**_Bold Italics = Inner Sakura_**

_Edit #1: March 21st, 2012 - Spellchecks & Grammar edits._

* * *

**Chapter 2: Teamwork **

Muttering an incoherent phrase, Sakura Haruno placed her fingertips on the supposed drawer next to her comfy mattress, only to find air.

_Mfph. I must be on a mission of some sort... at a daimyo's mansion, perhaps, to protect him from god-knows-what..._

Slowly, cautiously, Sakura widened her viridian orbs, only to meet a bright, cotton-candy coloured pink ceiling.

Chuckling, the kunoichi muttered, "What kind of daimyo has pink ceilings?"

"Sakura-chan, if I recall, you are supposed to meet your new team in thirty minutes!" An all too-familiar voice pierced the calm silence, causing the pinkette to stiffen with both realization and a tint of melancholy.

_Mom..._

Memories flooded into Sakura's brain like a waterfall.

"So that's it... it really isn't a dream..." she sighed, her face cupped in her hands.

"I'm coming, mom."

* * *

Instead of going Team 7's assigned training ground, the rosette ventured on instead to an abandoned training ground to catch up on some much needed training. The grounds were clearly abandoned for a reason. Meteor-sized craters littered the ground, some particularily deep. Any trees that had been spared were charred and rotting. Dry, cracked soil replaced what should've been grass. Overall, it was not a pretty sight - but it would have to do.

"Kage Bun- Ack!" Sakura rubbed her nose, scowling as she took out Tsunade's scroll.

_Sakura,_

_When Sasuke attacked Konoha, he was headed for the civilians, was he not? However, as you know, village elders and such are also located there. If he was headed for them, I might be able to find out the reason for his attack. Anyway, Shizune and Shikamaru are on it, so you need not worry. _

_Remember, Sakura. You have many chances to fix everything, but once Sasuke leaves, it's all over. _

_Tsunade. _

For a long time Sakura stood there, gazing at Tsunade's small, neat writing.

"Sasuke... attacking village elders?"

Hurriedly, she grabbed out a small handy paintbrush -courtesy of Sai, who had given her it on her 16th birthday.

_Tsunade-sama, _

_I have no idea why Sasuke would head for the civilians or the council elders. After he had killed Itachi, he hadn't seemed satisfied in the slightest. Thanks for the reassurance though. _

_Sakura. _

* * *

The two young boys of Team 7 stood - or rather, Sasuke stood while Naruto sat, on their lush green training ground, glaring at the distance as the sun rose high into the sky.

"Oh come on, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan were supposed to be here _two hours _ago!"

"Hn." _This is stupid. Naruto's a dobe. Sakura's probably not taking it seriously, and to top it all off, our teacher is an idiot. _

* * *

Sakura lay on the ugly hard dirt, panting as she gazed up at the sky. She had cut her hair so that it reached her shoulders – slightly longer than she had cut it in the Chuunin exams.

The kunoichi giggled at the grounds that lay before her – it was truly a mess. There were no longer any trees, and her chakra-infused punches had smashed the ground into bits.

"Ah," she sighed, "mid-morning. The best time of the day."

Sakura bolted upright, her hand covering her mouth.

"Mid-morning… it's mid-morning! I'm going to be even later than Kakashi-sensei!"

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke stood, tummies growling and eyes twitching.

Until finally, Kakashi stepped into view.

"Why, hello, students –"

"Eeep! I'm sorry I'm late, guys!'

Kakashi briefly raised an eyebrow at his pink-haired student who staggered towards them from the foliage. She looked fine, though there was a noticeably red gash beginning to swell on her hind calf, and her hair was noticeably shorter. Saying nothing, the jounin gazed at each of his students.

"You're late!" Naruto yelled, clenching his fists. He stared at his teacher.

"Hn."

"Why yes. I was simply talking to the grocery man – he had a great deal going on –"

"LIES!" Naruto yelled – and this time, Sakura joined in too.

"Oh? Well Sakura, why were you late?" The white-haired man smiled under his dark navy mask.

"I… uh… I was… I overslept." Sakura hung her head down. One might've thought she was in shame, but really Sakura was trying her best to hide her nervous face – she was never a good liar.

"Ah. I see. So that particularly deep gash on your calf must be from your sleep, then?"

"…What?" The rosette stared at her leg, gasping with realization.

_I must've missed it while healing my injuries!_

"Oh, uh, yeah. Probably."

Even Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura mentally groaned. She had to be more careful.

* * *

"So," Kakashi's voice rang loud and clear. Placing emphasis on every word, he continued, "I'm giving you a survival test. I have two bells here. Your goal is to take these bells from me using whatever method you'd like. Of course, each of you need one bell to pass this test. The odd one out will go back to the academy. But then again, all three of you could fail the test, as well."

Kakashi stared at each student carefully. Slight fear clouded Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes, satisfying the jounin.

_But wait. _He gazed at the female of the team. Unlike the others, she seemed quite calm and composed.

_Hmm… either she's being reckless… or she's hiding something…_

"Anyway, you guys have until noon to get the bells back. Those who fail will be tied up to the post and will watch everyone else eat their lunches."

As if on cue, Naruto and Sasuke's stomachs growled.

"Begin."

* * *

For fifteen minutes the pink-haired kunoichi laid low, devising several tactics as she hid herself on a high, well-covered branch.

_Kakashi-sensei is obviously looking for teamwork, not really whether we'd get the bells…_

**_Let's team up with Sasuke-kun then! Cha!_**

Sakura sighed. _I say we should go with Naruto. He'd obviously listen to me more compared to **him. **_She glared at Sasuke briefly. _Now, where is he? _Immediately, she spotted a blur of blue, orange, and yellow dangling by the ankle from the thickest branch of a small tree. Rolling her eyes, and sensing Kakashi's chakra signature some distance away with Sasuke's, Sakura leapt into Naruto's view. Before Naruto even opened his mouth, it was covered by Sakura's gloved hand.

"Naruto," Sakura muttered, staring at Naruto seriously. "I want you to team up with me. I have a plan. You got that? Now either you will work with me, or you'll be dangling from that tree forever."

Said boy nodded quickly. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! Now, uh… could you untie me?"

Sakura smirked. This was going to be real good.

* * *

The silver-haired jounin smirked at the young Uchiha whose face was barely above the ground, while the rest of his body was stuck deep into the hard soil.

"Well, you won't be getting out of that anytime soon, Uchiha." Flipping to the next page of his book, Kakashi headed towards Naruto to see if anything had changed.

It appeared it hadn't. Naruto, still dangling from a tree, yelled, "Come over here you wuss!"

"You're in no state to insult me, Naruto. After all, you're the one dangling from a tree branch." And with that, the jounin leaned against the bark of the tree, suppressing a small giggle as the young maiden in the story was whisked away by the handsome jounin off into the sunset.

What happened next was too fast for Kakashi to remember. One minute Naruto was grumbling as a thick rope bound him by the ankle, and the next Naruto was in front of him, once-rope-kunai dangerously close to Kakashi's neck. The man gazed with disbelief, but had not bothered to stand up properly. Instead he gripped the kunai.

"And you expect _that _to hurt me?"

"Nope." Naruto admitted, letting out a cheeky grin.

Kakashi barely had any time to raise an eyebrow before the bark behind him was bark no more, but instead, Sakura, who had grabbed her sensei by the vest as he stumbled from the lack of support.

"No, but I bet this will." Sakura punched her sensei, mind you, without chakra, so that he flew a couple meters back into another tree. However, it did not stop there. The tree poofed into the real Naruto, who had grabbed the bells the instant his sensei made impact with him.

"Sakura, catch!" Naruto threw the second bell towards Sakura, who smirked as she reached out for it – only to have missed as a blur of black and blue caught the bell instead.

"Hn. Too slow."

Sakura gaped at Sasuke. Meanwhile, Kakashi mocked, "Finally escaped, Sasuke-_kun?_"

"Hn."

"Teme! You cheater!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Sasuke. "You tell him, Sakura-chan!"

It brought Sakura back to her senses. Anger began exploding from her lithe form.

And, by instinct, she kicked him in the gut – this time, with chakra. The force sent him back flying farther than Kakashi had done.

_H-how… did she…?_

Wild shouts of glee could be heard from Naruto as he smirked at the sight of a beaten Sasuke. "Cool, Sakura-chan!"

On the other hand, Kakashi was not as pleased with his student's performance. The way she fought mirrored a certain Sannin… who was it again? Nonetheless, he pushed that thought aside as the alarm clock Kakashi had set for noon rang, immediately wiping off the satisfied look off of Sakura's face.

"Well, well, well. I'm sorry, but… _all _of you are being sent back to the Academy."

"WHAT? BUT! I GOT A BELL, SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, arms flailing about.

"True," Kakashi smiled, as Sasuke slowly joined Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi.

"However, you are all lacking in one thing. Teamwork. It is true, Naruto and Sakura, that you two had devised this plan together, but without Sakura initiating it, you would have never even considered, would you, Naruto? And Sakura. You failed to notice your other teammate, instead working with only one. Teamwork includes everybody. And **you, **Sasuke Uchiha. Not only did you choose to work alone, you thought everyone else was beneath you when really you had relied on your teammates to get your bell. Life isn't always going to be easy, guys. Nonetheless, you still have punishments to carry out. Sasuke, tie Sakura to that post and then you and Naruto can have your lunch. I'll be off in that tree over there. I will give you guys one last chance. Do **not **feed Sakura, or you two will fail."

Naruto glared lividly at his sensei before settling down to eat his lunch. No matter what the circumstances were, he could never turn his nose at a good cup of ramen. Meanwhile, Sakura leaned calmly against the post. She had hoped she could offer her lunch to Sasuke, which would then allow Team 7 to pass, just like all those years ago. She doubted Sasuke would do it for her.

"You," the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan muttered, securing the rope around her, "are not Sakura. I know perfectly well what her abilities and personality is like."

"Well then," Sakura retorted, daring herself to glare at those mesmerizing onyx eyes, "I guess you don't know me at all then, Sasuke-ku – Sasuke."

"Acting indifferent is a completely useless tactic, especially for an annoying fangirl like you," the Uchiha stated.

The all-too-familiar words stung, but Sakura was not one to back down. "Oh? Well, you must know that no girl would ever like a chicken-butt-haired guy like you who's weaker than Naruto!"

She instantly regretted her words. Sasuke tugged on the ropes with a force she had never seen before, and it hurt, leaving her gasping for air.

"We'll see, Sakura." Sasuke left, taking his place on the post to the right of Sakura. She sighed as her teammates ate in silence.

* * *

"Here." Sasuke startled the kunoichi, prodding her with his uneaten lunch box. If anything, his demeanor had changed from the moments prior; his tone did not carry its usual arrogant note and he even looked guilt ridden to a certain extent.

"S-Sasuke? But what about you?"

"Just eat it before I change my mind."

Sakura's heart raced with happiness towards her stoic teammate. He wasn't such a stuck-up Uchiha, after all. Using her unbound hand, she brought the sandwich up to her mouth, noting the extra tomatoes stuffed between the pieces of bread.

"Ne, Sakura-chan… take my lunch too! Ramen's good for you!"

"Oh, Naruto, thanks." She smiled.

However, their moment of peace did not last long. Kakashi had arrived at the scene sooner than one could say ninja. A dark, furious aura surrounded him as a gazed down at the three Genin.

"Sasuke… Naruto… why did you do what I had strictly told you not to do?"

Naruto was the first to speak up. "Uhhh…" he muttered.

"Because we're a team." Sasuke's calm, cold voice rang.

"Oh?"

"We will go through obstacles… as a team."

"Yeah, that's it!" Naruto yelled, giving a thumbs up at Sasuke. Sakura nodded fervently. She hoped Kakashi would pass them…

"Ah. Well then, you guys pass! Congratulations!" Kakashi said with a hint of happiness in his voice.

"WHAT? WE DO?"

"Yup. Now meet me tomorrow at the bridge. We have work to do."

* * *

"Saaaaaaaaakura-chan!"

"Hm?" Sakura spun around, biting her lip as she gazed into his cerluean eyes that were once lifeless.

"Ne, ne, how _did _you manage to land those awesomely-crazy moves on Sasuke?"

"Well," said Sakura, trailing off. She was about to give Naruto a good tip when she noticed the familiar chakra signature of her sensei lurking nearby. He was most likely suspicious after today's performance. "It's a secret!" She giggled, sticking her tongue out.

"Awwww... Sakura-chan..."

* * *

Over the next two weeks, Team 7 did a variety of D-rank missions - from weeding the garden to picking up litter from the rivers. Sakura continued to maintain close contact with Tsunade-sama, all the while learning more and more about Sasuke's ambush intended for Konoha council elders.

The missions were grueling and monotonous, but nonetheless, Sakura reminded herself, it was a piece of cake compared to her training with Tsunade-sama and missions she had undergone in the past. However, she was dying to kick some butt, especially after dealing with Sasuke's harsh and arrogant personality - now, why didn't she see that before? - as well as Naruto's reluctant and annoying behaviour. She had been the one who had done the most work, since Naruto thought it was improper for the future Hokage to do such work and Sasuke, naturally, had thought that trivial things such as this were useless and a waste of time.

Naturally, Sakura was very much relieved when Naruto gave an indignant outburst at yet another trifling D-rank mission.

"Why are our missions SO boring? I wanna fight! We'll never improve if we keep on doing these stupid D-rank missions! Old geezer, give us a better mission!"

Kakashi, who had paused between a mid-flip of a page, sighed.

The Sandaime raised an eyebrow, gazing at the Jinchuuriki before him. "For that outburst, Naruto, no, I will not grant you a higher-ranking mission." Iruka-sensei nodded approvingly, also relieved that Naruto's immature actions would not put him in danger.

That is, until Sakura chose to spoke.

"Hokage-sama," she muttered, bowing her head in respect. "As loudmouthed as our teammate is," she scowled, causing Naruto to scratch his head absentmindedly, "I second Naruto's request. After all, I think we are perfectly capable of handling a C rank mission, are we not, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, but muttered hesitatingly, "It _is_ true... however, -"

"Hn." Sasuke's mutter silenced the jounin, also signalling his agreement. Sakura and Naruto smiled cheekily at each other before staring intently at the Sandaime.

"If you insist," the old man sighed. "In fact, we have a C-rank mission right now. You are escorting someone to the Land of Waves."

Iruka gaped at the Hokage in shock. "B-but, Hokage-sama!"

"No buts," the Hokage sighed, raising his hand. "You better not make me regret this, Kakashi."

"Ahaha... Hai."

"Oooh! Who are we escorting, old man? A princess from a far-away land? Or maybe someone from the Hidden Ramen Agency! Or maybe -"

"Naruto," Kakashi thundered, "I suggest you shut up."

"Yes. Well then, come in, Tazuna-san."

The slightly chipped mahogany door swung wide open with a deafening creak, revealing...

"Ew! It's an old drunken man with totally unstylish clothes!" Naruto yelled, causing Sakura to giggle.

"Why," the old man growled, "It's a bunch of little kids... not to mention an immature dumb runt. Just my luck."

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

Well, that concludes the second chapter of Unwinding Time! Any votes/comments/critique will be appreciated! And yes, I do admit this chapter was quite short - I want my chapters to focus on one main event each, no matter what the length.

Also, you might have noticed a bit of "pairing development" for both NaruSaku and SasuSaku. Fear not, it is not going to affect any of their relationships. In fact, I'm still not quite sure about what the pairings are going to be, so once again, please review.

:) Thanks for reading!


	4. Mission

Unwinding Time

by Reveri

Standard Disclaimer Applies

* * *

.:Summary:.

Summary: With no more people to die protecting her, Sakura Haruno finally learns the true meaning of a kunoichi. She's given a chance to erase Konoha's deadly, flagrant future... by going into her twelve/12 year old body. Pairings to be announced

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

Welcome back to Unwinding Time! Here we left off with Team 7 (re)meeting Tazuna for their Land of Waves Arc. And yes, I updated faster this time - after all, it is spring break. :) I'm deciding that **Unwinding Time will have hints of manga spoilers nearly every chapter, **so like I once mentioned in the previous chapter, either don't read, or bear with it. Just read away!

* * *

**Votes: **

ShikaSaku: 1

GaaSaku: 1

NaruSaku [friendship]: 1

NaruHina: 1

You can still vote for your desired pairing! I will not be writing the story according to the voted pairings until a certain point.

_Italics = General thought_

**_Bold Italics = Inner Sakura _**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Mission **

"Teeeme," Naruto taunted, flashing a cheeky grin, "_someone _just called you a little immature dumb runt!"

"… Idiot," Sakura murmured, running a hand through her pink candy strands as she and Sasuke straightened up. "Naruto, look around you." She grinned; it had been so long since she didn't have to raise her head so high just to have eye contact with Naruto.

"Eh?" Naruto shot quick glances at both of his teammates, at first raising a skeptic eyebrow but then growling in realization as he noted glumly that he was the shortest out of all his teammates – and by a good few inches, too.

"You're gonna pay for that!" he growled, glaring daggers at the man before them. He struggled under Kakashi's grip, muttering other insults under his breath until Sakura shot an icy look at him.

"Naruto," Kakashi muttered sternly, though he himself looked as if this whole mission was going to be a disaster. "From here on out, this man is our client. We can't have you killing him before the mission even starts. Uhm, would you -?"

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm Tazuna, the master bridge builder of my country. I need to get back there as soon as possible in order to finish it. So let's get going."

* * *

It was an odd sight at the gates of Konoha. A Kyuubi vessel clad in ridiculously orange clothing that clashed horribly against each other, a pink haired girl, the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, a masked man with hair as silver as metal, and an old, burly peasant man assembled in front of the gates. Naruto walked a few meters ahead of the gang, with Sakura trailing closely behind. As Naruto cheerfully conversed with the air, Sakura could not help but have the nagging feeling that something bad was going to happen – rather, she _knew _something bad would happen, but she simply could not remember.

Kakashi and Tazuna walked behind the Jinchuuriki, a tranquil silence between the two other than the flip of a page or the chug of a beer bottle.

_I never noticed this last time, but the man drinks an awful lot of beer… I wonder how he stays sober without chakra to assist him… _Sakura wondered, gazing at the sunny, clear sky.

Suddenly, Kakashi broke the stillness, startling Sakura from her thoughts as she listened with a weary ear.

"I'd just like to confirm, Tazuna-san, that when you requested this mission, you wanted standard protection from robbers and such, am I correct?"

"Well, I – well, of course," the bridge builder muttered gruffly, a hint of uneasiness barely concealed in his voice.

"Ah, I see." The jounin smiled pleasantly, relieving the man next to him.

However, it did ring several bells in Sakura's head.

_The last time this happened, we were attacked! I even remember Naruto's hand being poisoned and me trying to protect Tazuna from something, only to have Sasuke save me…_

**_Sasuke-kun's so dreamy! He protects us from everything, including ninjas! _**

_Oh please – wait… ninjas… ninjas, that's it! I have to tell Kakashi-sensei!_

It was at that moment Tazuna decided to entirely change the subject, another sign to be suspicious of.

"Well anyway," he grumbled, "I doubt a little orange loser like him can even fight, let alone protect me."

"You shouldn't be insulting me!" Naruto yelled, glaring at the bridge builder. "I'm the greatest ninja ever and I'm going to be the future Hokage! Believe it!"

Before Tazuna could retort, Kakashi immediately tried to reassure him. "I'm an elite jounin, Tazuna-san, so I've got it all covered. You don't need to worry about a thing."

Sakura walked towards Kakashi-sensei, her face composed and serious.

"Kakashi-sensei," she greeted, taking her place alongside him. Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke listened in, suspicious of the pinkette.

"Hm?" the silver-haired man asked. Seeing her gesture, he leaned one ear towards Sakura, momentarily looking away from the book.

"Well, you see," she muttered, raising a hand next to her mouth to whisper into Kakashi's ear, "I sense some ninjas close by," she lied. "Also, I think Tazuna-san's been lying about only needing standard protection."

Surprisingly, the jounin smiled back at her. "Don't worry Sakura," he said quietly so that Tazuna could not hear, "I could tell from the start. Good job though, for realizing it."

The kunoichi gaped at her teacher, standing still for a moments. Sasuke caught up to her, gripping her shoulder lightly with his left hand.

"Sakura."

The kunoichi spun around, glancing at the Uchiha in front of her.

"Uh.. yeah?"

"How did you know?"

"Uhm, what?" Sakura began to walk forward, avoiding eye contact with the Uchiha. She concentrated her eyes on the road before them. Sasuke began to follow as well, his hands stuck deep into the pockets of his beige trousers.

"That there were ninjas nearby."

"… You heard that?" She gaped at the raven haired boy next to her.

"_Sakura_. Don't stray from the topic." He narrowed his dark eyes.

She sighed. "I found Tazuna to be suspicious, okay? I'm just guessing. Besides, Kakashi knows already."

"Hn."

* * *

An hour or so later, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke walked in the back, leaving the bridge builder and Kakashi to the front. It was then, both Kakashi and Sakura noticed a small puddle in the middle of the road.

_It hasn't rained this whole week… impossible…_

It was then their sensei gave a meaningful glance back at Sakura. Immediately she tensed, whispering loud enough for the two boys to hear, "Run. _Now." _

Slowly, a man's head sprung out of the puddle, followed by an entire body. Another man emerged, both carrying spiked chains.

"No way, Sakura-chan! I'm a ninja, and I don't run away!" Naruto yelled, a little shocked, but nonetheless determined.

"Hn." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the enemies, going into an attacking stance.

Growling, Sakura grabbed both boys by their collars and threw them a few meters back, though lightly enough so that they wouldn't be injured. Seeing her teammates rub their heads, coughing as dust covered them, she smiled albeit a little sadly, satisfied that they would not be fighting for at least a while. She charged towards one man as the other approached Kakashi-sensei with the spiked chain.

_Hidden Village of the Mist, _she noted, glancing at their Hatei-ates.

"Come on, pinky," the man taunted.

Sakura scowled at the man, her hate growing deeper.

"That's it." She raised her lithe hands into a hand sign, effectively sending the man into the depths of a deep genjutsu.

She watched happily as the man fell unconscious, until the pinkette realized she definitely did not want to be subject to the already growing suspicions of her teammates.

_Shoot… do something, Sakura…_

Quickly, she grabbed the collar of the mist ninja, and with a chakra-infused punch, she sent him flying towards the tree in the distance, quickly running after him as if he was going to fight back at any moment.

* * *

Naruto gaped in shock as the man who had bound Kakashi with the spiked chain split his sensei into pieces, leaving a puddle of blood. Gasping at the sight, he felt a desire to vomit.

"No way…"

Sasuke, however, immediately dismissed it as a replacement jutsu. Instead, he focused his attention towards Sakura's peculiar behaviour. It wouldn't have been so bad if the man hadn't fallen unconcious _after _being punched by Sakura. Instead, once his female teammate had made a hand sign, the enemy had simply fallen to the ground. The Uchiha bit his lip. Even for him, the changes he had witnessed from this once crazy little fangirl had both outstanded him and angered him.

_Why is it that she can do that? …Why can't I have that power? At this rate, I'll never defeat **him**…_

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts just in time to see the same mist ninja throw his deadly weapon towards Naruto, who stood there, paralyzed in shock over the "death" of his teacher and the weapon that was being flung toward him.

The Uchiha boy threw a kunai towards the chain links, effectively pinning it onto the hard bark of the tree closest to the battle, effectively stopping the chain from getting any closer to Naruto. Sasuke kicked the man whose arm was stuck along with the chains.

The dark-haired mist-nin did not stop there. In fact, he charged once again towards Naruto. Sasuke tensed, ready to throw another barrage of kunai if he had to – only to be stopped by Sakura, whose arm was outstretched in front of the Uchiha.

"NARUTO!" the rosette yelled, pink strands flying everywhere. "Are you going to stand there? Do something! Aren't you going to be the future Hokage?"

Naruto gazed in mild awe at the kunoichi yelling at him, but he soon grinned, and spun around to face the enemy charging toward him. Just as the spiked chain was about to pierce through Naruto's chest, he placed his hand in front to protect it, the sharp blade of the spike piercing through his palm. The Kyuubi boy gripped the blade with his now injured hand, kicking the man in the gut. Coincidentally, Kakashi poofed from nowhere, grabbing both mist ninja by the collars and gazing intently at his students.

"Good job, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Ah, and we need to do something about Naruto's hand. Those spiked chains were dipped with poison."

Naruto gaped at his sensei. "B-but, sensei… you – the chains - !"

The remanents of Kakashi poofed away into pieces of wood. Naruto gaped like a fish, glancing back and forth at his teacher and the logs.

"Aah.."

Tazuna gazed at the three genin in a new light, deciding to give the blonde a break for once, and not make any comments.

Sasuke, on the other hand, smirked at the blonde whiskered boy.

"Oi!" Naruto yelled at the smirking Uchiha, barely noticing how Sakura bit her lip in frustration, considering whether or not to heal Naruto's hand. "What'cha smirking at me for?"

"If it weren't for Sakura, you would've been a real loser and a wimp, too."

"Teme!" Naruto yelled, clearly irritated.

"Guys," the coral-haired preteen quickly interrupted, "I'd hate to interfere, but Naruto's hand is poisoned."

* * *

Now that the mist-nin were tied securely to each other with chakra-laced rope, the white-haired jounin turned to the master bridge builder.

"Tazuna-san. I'm sure that both you and I know this is clearly not a C-rank mission. After what we've seen here, this should be ranked a B-mission at the least. I'm afraid this is too much for us, even with me here. After all, as good as these three may be, they're only Genin. Naruto's injury will affect us, and, due to your violation of mission-rank requestion, I'm afraid we'll have to head back to Konoha. "

A low growl emitted from Naruto's throat, startling Sakura, and receiving the attentions of Kakashi, Tazuna, and Sasuke. Grabbing a kunai from his pouch, he stabbed his palm, causing Sakura to wince.

"I'm not going to give up just for this wound," he shouted, looking fierce and determined. "It took me a long way to get here; not just for this mission, but to make me who I am today. A ninja never gives up, and as the future Hokage, I will never give up. I'm going to reach my goals. I'm no longer going to let someone protect me. We're going to finish this mission and protect bridge-builder-san! Let's go!"

The pink-haired girl stared with melancholy towards the blonde. All this time, he had been so determined, and she had never realised it... but all for what? To be killed by Sasuke in the future? She bit her lip and clenched her fists, strengthening her resolve. She was going to fix the past, and Naruto was going to be the Hokage, hands down!

"Oh shoot... uh, Naruto, let's bandage that hand of yours..." Sakura muttered, noticing the blood trickling down between the blonde's fingers. Wrapping the bandages securely, Sakura noted sourly that his wound was already healed with the power of the Kyuubi. How he had lived with such a burden, Sakura would never know.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"I don't know why you seem so worried, but just don't worry about it." He grinned cheekily, making Sakura unconciously smile as well.

"Sure thing, Naruto."

* * *

Team 7 and the bridge builder were in a small wooden boat, steered by a man in clothes similar to that of Tazuna. A thick, dense fog surrounded them, allowing them to stay hidden from other ninja that might have been lurking around. After a good half hour, Kakashi signalled for the steering man to turn of the engine, letting the boat glide silently across the icy dark waters.

Sasuke had been staring at Sakura with a mixture of anger, confusion, awe, respect, and a tint of jealousy. Sakura, noticing this, glanced at the raven-haired boy.

"What?" she muttered in a quick, hushed whisper. She was going to add another witty comment when she noticed the outburst of emotion on the Uchiha's face. The rosette smiled softly at the sight. This was the Uchiha Sasuke she had crushed on all those years ago - a young boy who had seemed so cool and composed on the outside, but was really just another child like she was.

It was like the Sasuke who had killed Naruto and betrayed Konoha was an entirely different man than the preteen facing her now - and so, it seemed harder for Sakura to channel her hate onto him.

"... Where did you get all that power?" The Uchiha asked hesitatingly, gazing at the nearly-opaque fog in the distance.

Sakura looked warily at Sasuke. She had definitely not been expecting this, out of all the questions he could have asked.

"Oh Sasuke," the pinkette replied kindly, "power comes from hard work... you should know that. You don't get it from someone or something, and you can't possibly get it overnight..."

"Aa." Sasuke muttered, gazing at his feet.

Sakura glanced worriedly at her teammate before surveying the fog once more. _I hope he realises that someday that Orochimaru won't work..._

The boat steerer gripped his long, wooden pole, pausing in his small, quiet strokes against the water. "We're nearing the bridge," he whispered. "Quiet, everyone. We don't want to be heard."

Naruto squinted, peering around to see the bridge Tazuna had thought so highly of, only to meet even more fog. On the other hand, Kakashi paused from his quiet reading session of Icha Icha Paridise, closing his book shut with a resounding snap.

"Tazuna-san," he grunted, "We need to talk."

* * *

.:Author's Note:.

Yeah, I'm incredibly sorry for the short chapter. I've only planned as far as here, and I still need to watch the entire Zabuza arc again just to get some facts straight. Nonetheless, I will be updating soon, so don't worry! :)

Also, please vote for pairings (that is, if you want any) just to help guide me along the Pairings path for this story... :P

See y'all!


	5. Land of the Waves

**Unwinding Time**

by Reveri

Standard Disclaimer Applies

* * *

I wasn't intending on posting another chapter so soon... but since I got 4 such awesome reviews, I've decided to post another chapter! :)

**KafeiDetour: **No, he doesn't go back in time because he doesn't know about the "back-in-time" jutsu. :)

**Votes: **

Haku/Naru/SasoSaku, SasuSaku [friendship]: 1

NejiSaku: 2

Shika/Gaa/SasuSaku: 3

NaruHina, NaruSaku [friendship]: 4

Voting is still available, although I'm going to start implementing some SasuSaku / NaruHina.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Land of the Waves**

* * *

For a moment, the bridge builder was quiet. He gazed off into the distance, not bothering to answer. With this, however, he had caught the attention of all of Team 7. Finally, after several minutes slipped by, he chose to break the deafening silence.

"It's all Gato's work." The old man mumbled, fingering his beer bottle.

Sakura's lips thinned. _That's right. The guy who bankrupted the Land of the Waves. _

"Gato?" asked Naruto, raising his eyebrows. Tazuna stared at Naruto for a few seconds before shifting his gaze onto Kakashi. When he noticed that the silver-haired man contained the same perplexed look, he frowned.

"Don't tell me you don't know who Gato is?" he semi-shouted in disbelief.

The man in charge of rowing the wooden boat was quick to hush Tazuna. "Quiet, Tazuna-san. We are nearby. You don't want _them_ hearing you. It would be the end of us all!"

Kakashi muttered, "I'm afraid I don't, Tazuna-san. Please enlighten us."

The bridge builder frowned, and then, speaking in a subdued tone, he replied, "He's an extremely wealthy and powerful businessman in charge of shipping. He took over our country, and ruined our economy. The only way we can fix everything is by creating a bridge across. That's where you guys come in."

"Eh? Really?" asked Naruto. His head was cocked to the side.

"Are you sure this boy is a ninja?" said Tazuna, glaring at the blonde. "Anyway, he hired shinobi. And not just any old shinobi. Some of them..." he shuddered.

_Haku and Zabuza..._

**_Who're they? _**

_Missing nin that would've wiped the old me out in a few seconds. _

"So... please. Help me save my people." whispered the bridge builder, interrupting Sakura's thoughts.

Although the rosette was quite reluctant to go through this tribulation yet again, she wanted to prove herself this time.

* * *

"This place looks so boring." Naruto yawned, as if to prove his point.

"Now there, Naruto. We're on a mission. Stay on guard." Kakashi chided Naruto lightly. He was tense, Sakura could tell. Things were going very badly.

Their trek soon began to take a turn upward, as not a single ninja bothered them as they made their way through the neverending trails.

Of course, not for long - Naruto took a few steps ahead of the group, and then, staring left and right, randomly swung a kunai into a bush.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise she was silent. Meanwhile, Tazuna had a much different reaction.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU STUPID LITTLE MIDGET!"

Naruto, ignoring Tazuna, darted around, and found -

a rabbit.

"Naruto..." said Kakashi. He frowned, but did not continue.

Sakura was itching to pummel Naruto - in fact, he _deserved _it, until she noticed the way he was gently cradling the rabbit, apologizing as if he was talking to the Hokage.

_Why don't I remember him being like that? _

**_Huh? What're you talking about? Being like what?_**

_...Nevermind. _

She suddenly flinched. She felt a foreign chakra signature, and it reeked of power.

Could it be... already?

"LOOK OUT!"

Immediately, the entire group (Sakura included) ducked as a massive sword swirled past their heads, barely missing by inches.

Said sword then hit a tree, where it was held in place.

Barely seconds later, a man dressed in cow-patterned arm and leg warmers stood on the hilt of the sword.

Sakura gasped.

It was Zabuza, one of the Seven Great Swordsmen.

* * *

Sakura had fought - not to mention slain - many powerful ninja before. In fact, compared to some of her previous battles, Zabuza didn't pose a very large threat (considering the fact that even Kakashi was here to help).

Yet, she couldn't move. She stared, wide-eyed at the man she'd been afraid of before. It was as if re-experiencing one of her worst nightmares had unlocked all of her hidden fears.

She even managed to block out the males of Team 7's discussion on the Sharingan, instead keeping her gaze only on the man up above.

Memories flooded her mind - a near-dead Sasuke, a wounded Naruto, the mist -

_the mist. _

_I have to do something before he unleashes the mist... __I probably couldn't handle landing a hit on him - after all, I'm in bad shape. But if I manage to distract him long enough for Kakashi-sensei to figure something out we might be able to win.. right?_

She flung two kunai towards Zabuza, producing no change in reaction when he simply dodged to the right.

"Sakura!" shouted Kakashi, clenching his jaw.

"Fight me first!" yelled Sakura as boldly as she could.

Sasuke and Tazuna gaped at her while Naruto muttered "I wanted to say that!"

"What the-?" muttered Kakashi, panicking as he stared at the kunoichi to his left. "What are you thinking, Sakura? Didn't you just hear me when I told you guys that this isn't any ordinary ninja?"

"Just trust me, Kakashi-sensei!"

"It seems like your students are quite disobedient... eh, Kakashi?" said Zabuza, pulling out his sword with ease and leaping to the ground with surprising grace for a man of his stature.

"Alright then... fight me, kunoichi."

* * *

Suddenly, Zabuza leapt onto a nearby river. He stood still, holding one hand in the air and one to his chest as water began to swirl around him. Traces of mist began to litter the air.

_Oh no you don't!_

The pinkette sprinted towards the man in front of her, gathering chakra in her fist (unfortunately, much less than she normally would have).

Zabuza merely continued on. He was not worried in the slightest - a mere punch, even one with a bit of chakra, would not affect him. Besides, he was almost ready...

Instead of receiving a so-called "weak" punch, however, the ground began to rumble. For a moment Zabuza contemplated opening his eyes - but changed his mind. The rumble dissapeared as soon as it came.

Sakura glared at the ground, clenching her fists.

_Drat! I still haven't reached usual skill yet. I barely even broke through the ground!_

Kakashi frowned. Just who exactly was this kunoichi? She had made a smart move, even though it had failed.

Maybe he could trust her.

The entire time, the remaining half of team seven obediently guarded Tazuna. Both of them, though, were becoming extremely curious and envious.

Sasuke stared at the rosette a few yards in front of him. He was relieved she was not so much of a nusiance as he thought she was, yet...

He was irritated.

Irritated that a girl who barely spent any time training AT ALL bested him, an _Uchiha, _who had spent every ounce of his energy dedicated to kill the one man that had ruined his life.

_Calm down, _he thought. _I need to figure out how to beat this guy._

* * *

Suddenly, Zabuza dissapeared, causing everyone to tense.

"He vanished!" whispered Naruto, as Sakura immediately retreated towards Tazuna to aid in guarding him.

"This is the silent killing technique." muttered Kakashi, now in a guard stance. "It can kill you in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. Even my sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so _don't lower your guard."_

The three genin all pulled out a kunai, readying themselves.

"Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives," said Kakashi in a matter-of-fact tone.

Naruto gaped at Kakashi.

Sakura, however, knew it was Kakashi's way of trying to calm everyone _- and possibly himself _- down.

* * *

_Now... _Zabuza thought, staring at the five figures below him. _Who to kill?_

_Getting rid of Kakashi would certainly be most advantageous... but the kunoichi is also something to consider..._

Sasuke's eyes widened as panic clouded his thoughts. For the second time in his life he felt true fear.

_"This madness... I can't take it anymore..." _Shakily he gripped his kunai, aiming for his own body.

"Sasuke. Calm down," said Kakashi, his voice firm and steady. "I will not allow my comrades to die."

The Uchiha gaped at his sensei, his fear still written all over his face. Nonetheless, he was much calmer than before.

He felt a petite hand grip his wrist. Sasuke tensed, staring at Sakura with widened eyes.

"It's ok." She mouthed. "You'll be fine."

For a brief moment, Sasuke wondered why Sakura of all people was not afraid. Why was she -

"Got you." said a deep, low voice that chilled Sasuke to the core.

Zabuza had landed between the genin and the bridge builder.

Sakura was the first - besides Kakashi - to react. She spun around, flinging the kunai towards the nukenin. To her surprise, water spewed out like a tap.

No sooner had she stabbed the man - or, water clone - it had exploded into a massivie puddle of water.

_Where'd he go?_

"Sensei! Behind you!" yelled Naruto, although his input was completely unnecessary - Kakashi himself dispersed into water as he was "slain" by the swordsman.

_Nice one, sensei... but I really need to remember what happened otherwise I'll lose my advantage!_

Zabuza smirked. "So you've copied my water clone jutsu, eh...very skillfully executed. Unfortunately... " he, too, dissolved into water as the real Kakashi behind him stabbed the cow-patterned man in the back.

_He's going to... he's going to... COME ON, SAKURA, REMEMBER THIS..._

_He's going to kick Kakashi-sensei from behind!_

Sakura managed to land a kick on the Mist-nin's waist just before he did the same to Kakashi. Although the man did not fly into the air like Kakashi had during her memories, he frowned and stared at the pinkette.

"Remember?" said Sakura, slowly lacing her internal organs with chakra, "I said... you're fighting me first."

"Not so fast, little girl... I still haven't dealt with your teacher yet." With a speed that rivaled that of Rock Lee without weights, Zabuza flung the white-haired jounin and shouted, "Water Clone Prison jutsu!"

* * *

"Kakashi!" yelled Sakura, cursing herself for underestimating the swordsman. "Don't tell us to run. Naruto! Sasuke! Focus on getting Kakashi! I'll deal with the water clone!"

Naruto stared at her. Sasuke, who had already had enough of being surprised for one day, nodded.

_It's time we worked as a team._

* * *

I haven't had much inspiration this chapter, so first up I'mma apologize. This chapter was mostly for getting the fight started. Next chapter will drift away from the original storyline. :)


	6. Battle

**Unwinding Time **

by Reveri

Standard Disclaimer Applies

* * *

EDIT: I seem to have messed up my authors notes between this chapter and the previous chapter, so I've deleted the voting information, etc.

Again, voting is still available, although I'm going to start implementing some SasuSaku / NaruHina.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Battle**

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki grinned at Sasuke, a devious plan forming in his mind. _If I can sneak past the dude somehow... maybe... disguised as a second kunai or something! _

"Teme," shouted Naruto, bobbing up and down like a child, "let's try throwing a huge kunai at him!"

"What would that do?" growled Sasuke, indignant that Naruto was being so childish. But then he paused. Naruto was acting like he normally did - immature and foolish - but there was a glint in his eyes that showed otherwose.

"...Aa."

Sakura, who had not missed the exchange between the two, smirked, before focusing on the task at hand.

_Lets see... from what I remember, Zabuza was extremely skilled in ninjutsu and taijutsu... as for genjutsu... _

**_What about it?_**

_Well, he must have SOME sort of weakness, right? Besides, he's too preoccupied with Kakashi at the moment so his water clone will be an easy feat. _

**_Shouldn't you attempt genjutsu on the real guy just in case it does work? Otherwise he'll find some sort of way to prevent himself from falling into another illusion!_**

_Good point. But I still need to figure out a way to eliminate his water clone._

Meanwhile, Sasuke had thrown a large fuuma shuriken. It missed the water clone, aiming for the real Zabuza instead. Zabuza grinned as he caught the shuriken with his bare hand.

"You think that can stop me?"

What he did not notice, however, was that another shuriken had passed him, spiraling into the distance.

Until it poofed, revealing a grinning Naruto. "Yes I can!" he yelled, charging towards Zabuza, his previous fears momentarily forgotten.

The Zabuza clone tensed, ready to attack the blonde. Sakura took this as her cue to attack.

_**Shannaro!**_

She gathered as much chakra she could muster in her first, and this time punched the offending clone squarely in the back instead of the ground. Unlike her previous attempt, her punch produced more fruitful results - the water clone exploded.

_Now that's more like it. _

* * *

Naruto tackled the muscular man, effectively breaking his concentration and thus freeing Kakashi-sensei. Sakura smirked. It was all over now. She had nothing to worry about.

She glanced over at Sasuke, who looked considerably relieved. She felt a small pang as she stared at him. He looked so young, so innocent - not like someone who would become a heartless murderer.

As if the Uchiha could feel the kunoichi's stare, he glanced at the pinkette. She was not looking at him like how she normally did. It both comforted and scared him. She was an annoying (but rather intelligent), silly teammate who did very poorly in combat - or so he thought.

Yet here she was, certainly feeling more confident than him and even managing to land a hit on a water clone of the great Zabuza Momoichi.

Something was off. The Sakura from the Academy and this Sakura was totally different. He narrowed his eyes, causing her to flinch. She looked at him as if he was going to kill her.

It reminded him of... of the way he had looked at Itachi the night _it _happened.

"Sakura..."

She tensed, clenching her fists. Why, of all times, was images of Naruto's dead body and Sasuke's sadistic smirk flitting through her mind NOW? She had to calm down. It wasn't the same Sasuke.

* * *

_Tsunade-sama looked at her student with loving but fierce eyes. _

_"Sakura, I need you to remember something."_

_"Hai, shishou!"_

_"Remember... if all else fails..." she paused._

_"You may need to kill him." _

* * *

Her eyes widened. She could kill him right there and then. It would be all over. Naruto wouldn't be dead!

_But... it won't erase the years of pain he's caused us. And... I would never forgive myself for killing him, no matter how much I convince myself. _She sighed.

"Rat, Dog, Snake, Boar..." a slow chant began to issue from the two elite ninja, forcing the two to momentarily forget that they were looking at each other.

The chanting grew faster and louder without hesitation.

_Kakashi-sensei's using the sharingan! _

"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"

Two great masses of water surged up high into the air, much like Tenten's Rising Twin Dragons. As soon as they rose, however, both came plunging down like two great waterfalls. The ground rumbled, water splashing everywhere.

After what seemed like minutes, the water finally settled, leaving behind evident traces of a disaster. Only one figure stood.

Kakashi-sensei had outbeaten the swordsman at his own jutsu.

* * *

Silence overtook the air for a few minutes.

Finally, Naruto asked, "I-is he dead?"

Kakashi nodded solemnly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. If she wasn't mistaken, the last time this happened, a 'hunter-nin' came and retrieved Zabuza, effectively reviving him. She had to prevent it from happening.

Suddenly, a slender, short figure leapt from amongst the trees to Zabuza's side.

"Thank you for eliminating this threat. I'll be disposing of him now."

"Who're you!" yelled Naruto, shocked by the sudden appearance of a stranger.

"I am a hunter-nin. It is my duty to hunt and dispose of criminals like these." The figure replied cooly. "I will show you." He (or she, the group couldn't tell) whipped out two needles from his pocket, and pricked them into the neck of an unmoving Zabuza. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke all seemed to be relieved from this action. One person, however, was not. Satisfied, the hunter-nin took hold of the limp limbs of the swordsman.

"Wait." said Sakura. Her tone was firm and unwavering.

"Yes?" said the masked figure, pausing in his actions.

"You -" she stopped. Suddenly, an image of a beautifully painted bridge with a statue of team 7 appaeared in her head.

* * *

_"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" yelled an enthusiastic Naruto. "Can we stop by here for some ramen? Pleaseeee?"_

_"And some anmitsu!" chirped Sakura, giggling at the thought of her favourite dessert. _

_"Hai, hai..." sighed the white-haired jounin. "I swear, you two haven't aged at all..." _

_The group (including a silent Sai) walked leisurely across the gleaming white bridge that would bring them to the Land of Waves. _

_They all paused to look at a intricately carved marble statue. It bore faint signs of erosion, but it was still relatively new, gleaming under the rays of the sunlight. _

_Naruto said nothing, staring at the statue with his azure orbs for several moments. _

_Sakura, too, stared at the statue. She knew what Naruto was looking at. The stone white face of Sasuke Uchiha. Conflicting emotions welled up inside of her - pride for Naruto for earning recognition, and pain for yet another reminder that the Uchiha was not present._

_Naruto was the first to recover. "Haha, I told you, neh, Sakura-chan! This is one step closer to becoming Hokage! They made a statue of me!" _

_"Ah..." she felt a little weak at the knees, but chose to ignore it. "Don't forget us, too, Naruto!" _

_"So that's what you looked like when you were younger... midget." said Sai, putting on one of his usual fake smiles. _

_"SAIII!" yelled Naruto, his eyebrow twitching. _

* * *

"Nevermind." muttered Sakura.

_Even if it means putting us in danger... Naruto still deserves that recognition! _

The hunter-nin nodded, and left in a blur.

"Now..." said Kakashi, turning towards the pinkette. "Care to explain what that was all about?"

"I - I don't know what you're talking about!" said Sakura, looking away from her teacher's piercing eyes.

"Hn. Even I can tell something's different." muttered Sasuke, crossing his arms.

"Wait - what?" interrupted Naruto, darting his head towards all three. "What are we talking about?"

Everyone chose to ignore him.

"Er, speaking of which, Tazuna-san.." said Sakura, hoping to lighten the pressure that seemed to be cascading down on her.

Only then did Kakashi noticed a stunned Tazuna, who was still frozen on the spot. He gave a look towards Sakura that clearly said, 'I'm not done with you yet' before adressing the bridge-builder, "Ah, Tazuna-san, sorry for the wait. I assume we'll be heading towards your abode now?"

Startled, Tazuna could only mutter a "ah, yes" before leading them towards the dirt road.

Sakura sighed.

_Did I do the right thing? I feel so lost. The world's counting on me, but what if I make mistakes that I can't fix? _

**_Geez. You're even more of a worrywart than the old me!_**

Sakura ignored her inner. She was in no mood to deal with her now. _I wish I could talk to Tsunade. She'd know what to do. _

She paused, a grin adorning her features. _I can! In fact, the scroll's right in my pouch! _

**_That scroll of yours sure is nifty._**

_Of course. Tsunade-sama invented it herself._

Her absurd smiles and grins despite the serious situation did not go unnoticed by her teacher and stoic teammate.

* * *

This chapter was a bit short and uninteresting. : Only today I realized, I SUCK at writing fight sequences...

Anyway, it took me a long time to decide whether or not to allow Haku to take Zabuza away (aka writing more fight sequences). I eventually decided yes, since there wouldn't be much of a climax if Zabuza was eliminated just like that *snaps fingers*.

Next chapter I'll be focusing more on Team 7's relationship etc, so I'll start adding some SasuSaku into this. (NaruHina'll have to wait until after the arc, sorry all :( )

Until then, Enjoy~!


	7. And Training Begins

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

* * *

**Votes:**

Again, please vote for a Non-Saku pairing or a Saku pairing already listed here. Oh, and *** Due to all the NaruSaku friendship votes, I'm booting NaruSaku off. They will be super close to each other, just not in a romantic way. :) **

**NejiTen: 1**

**ShikaIno: 2**

**GaaSaku: 3**

**NejiSaku:4**

**ShikaSaku: 5**

**SasuSaku, NaruHina: 9** - Current Pairings :)

* * *

**Chapter 6: And So Training Begins**

Sakura sighed, running her fingers through her coral pink locks. She watched as it fell limply barely past her shoulders. Kakashi had been out cold for the past day or two after arriving at Tazuna's house, (after a brief inspection when Naruto and Sasuke were out training by themselves, she deduced that it was due to excess chakra consumption) and it had worried even the arrogant bridge builder and the boys of Team 7. This, however, was a regular occurence for Sakura. She would often see Kakashi in the hospital, asleep or reading his favourite perverted book.

She had been thinking a lot. Often she would gaze into nothingness for minutes at a time, only to be startled by Naruto who would wave his hand in front of her face. Even Sasuke sent her odd looks every now and then. Sakura simply couldn't help it - the deaths of so many she new was still fresh in her mind, and she was nervous about her enormous task. It didn't help that she had to talk with her dead teammate and teacher and a teammate who had betrayed her (no, _them) _beyond forgiveness.

The kunoichi stared at her teacher (who was asleep) across the room. One thing was for sure, she was happy she was making a change. She regretted how weak and unhelpful she was before. But she knew that which each change she made, she was affecting the future. What if things turned for the worse? She took a deep breath, calming herself from her daunting thoughts. No, she was here to prevent that.

* * *

_"Sakura, I'm going to have to explain a few things about this jutsu to you," said Tsunade, staring into the determined eyes of her apprentice. She felt horrible, entrusting such a big responsibility to a mere 16 year-old girl. She shook her head. No, this was Sakura she was talking about. She was strong. She massaged her temples, frowning as she struggled to remember all the details of the jutsu she had created. _

_"Hai!" Sakura stood unwaveringly, clenching her fists. _

_"First and foremost, we will be able to contact each other. I'll tell you how when you're about to go. This is only possible because nothing will change in the present time even if you have made changes in the past time. Only when I perform the proper jutsu to complete this, the two times will merge and you will be brought back to the future."_

* * *

"TEME!" Naruto's shouts could be heard outside. Sakura snickered - she remembered the loudmouth's antics all too well. She then continued to recall her beloved shishou's words.

* * *

_Sakura nodded. "But... shishou, wouldn't that mean you too will -"_

_Tsunade smiled. "I'm not done yet, Sakura. You are right, after I complete the jutsu I will no longer remember the old past. This is why I have entrusted this task to you and only you; I have a favor to ask of you while you are in the past time."_

"Aa... yes, shishou?" Sakura replied, trying to process the information her master had just told her.

"After you ensure **he **is safe, I will need you to find Shizune and I. Depending on the circumstances I may or may not have to be Hokage; anyway, you will need to give us this scroll - " she handed Sakura a blood red scroll - "once I read it, I will understand everything."

Seeing Sakura's disbelief, she continued, "You see, this jutsu of mine was invented a few years before I was chosen as Godaime. I made sure there was a way I could remember everything in case someone else used my jutsu. In the scroll is a message I have written to myself explaining the circumstances, and, in case I forget," she snorted, as if it were impossible, "some instructions on how to activate the remembering jutsu."

"I understand." Sakura smiled, although it was somewhat forced.

* * *

Naruto glared at his reflection one of the few clear ponds that could be found in the Land of the Waves. He clenched his jaw before throwing a heavy pebble into the water, breaking his reflection. The jinchuuriki then proceeded to kick the dirt in front of him.

He was decent ninja - maybe not as smart or good as Sasuke-teme or Sakura-chan, but he knew that one day his hard work would pay off and he would be Hokage.

At least, until he had met Zabuza, and that hunter-nin... who was obviously around his age.

Just the thought of that masked female (or male?) made him want to throw a kunai at something. His age, and practically ANBU...

He felt so... _behind. _And knowing that both his teammates were better than him did nothing to help his situation.

"We're wasting time..." he growled, kicking the ground so hard a cloud of dust erupted in front of his face.

"So you've noticed." A low voice rung through the silence, startling Naruto.

"Wha- who's there!" Naruto brandished a kunai, spinning around to find the lone Uchiha leaning against a tree.

"Me, you dobe."

"Oh please, I knew you were there! I was just testing you."

"..." Sasuke stared coldly for a moment before continuing, "We need to train."

"My thoughts exactly!" yelled Naruto, glad someone - even the teme - understood him.

"NARUTO, SASUKE! COME OVER HERE, I THINK KAKASHI'S AWAKE!" Sakura's shouts alerted the two genin. They grinned - or at least, Naruto grinned while Sasuke smirked.

It was time to have some proper training.

* * *

"Nice to see you too, Sakura," muttered Kakashi sarcastically as Sakura bellowed for the two boys of Team 7. Noticing that he had spoke, she stuck her tongue out. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, but they made me promised I would call for them as soon as you woke up." The pinkette grinned.

"I see. So, Sakura... about yesterday..."

"Two days ago, you mean," she corrected.

"Has it really been that long?" the jounin sighed. "Anyway, about two days ago..."

"Nevermind that, sensei." Sakura frowned, both because she had more important matters to discuss and she wanted to avert the subject. "It's just a hunch, but... I think Zabuza's still alive."

Hatake Kakashi's eye widened for a fraction of a second before it returned to normal. "No wonder..."

"No wonder?" Inwardly, Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had not doubted her.

"I felt something was wrong. So, why do you think so, Sakura?"

"Well..." she paused, to make her seem more believeable (and not like she knew it all along). "Hunter-nin are supposed to deal with all missing-nin straightaway to make absolute sure that they are all dealt with, right?"

"Right."

"But that... er... lady, she took him away. Why did she?"

For a moment or two, Kakashi was quiet. But soon she received a retort, "She may have not been a hunter-nin."

"That's... what I thought." She faked a long, semi-afraid sigh.

"That was quite clever of you, Sakura. I wouldn't have expected any of my students to be about to figure that out. Speaking of which... Sakura, you -"

"SENSEI!" Naruto yelled, grinning wildly. "You're awake!"

"Ah yes, Naruto, it seems so." Kakashi answered good-naturedly. "Who couldn't be, with such a loud child on a team..." he muttered as an after-thought. Sakura giggled.

"Well, kids, I have some pressing matters to discuss with you." The white-haired ninja nodded to the bridge builder and his daughter, a woman in her late twenties, who had entered the room upon hearing the commotion. "It seems like Zabuza is alive."

"WHAT!" yelled Tazuna. His daughter, Tsunami, gasped.

Kakashi nodded, before looking at the orange-clad and blue-clad boys. They both looked overjoyed.

_So they're actually happy about this news... heh. _He mused.

"Yes. The hunter-nin that caught them showed rather strange behaviour. First he/she did not deal with Zabuza immediately, which was unlike what other hunter-nin would have done. Secondly, she managed to pierce him in an area that is sometimes used to temporarily stop the heart of a man. It is for these two reasons that I assume Zabuza is still out there somehwere."

"Y-you're overreacting!" Tazuna sounded nervous. He fidgeted with his beer bottle.

"It is our job to do so. And besides, we are most likely right."

"Don't worry, old man!" barked Naruto in glee. "We'll take care of him, with some training from Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke did not say anything - which most likely meant that he, too, wanted to train with the jounin.

"Hmph," snorted Tazuna.

"No you won't!" yelled a young child's voice. It was a small, thin boy dressed in a white shirt, blue overalls, and a bucket hat - all of which looked rather soiled.

The youth startled the group, eliciting a sharp "Inari! Don't say that!" from Tsunami. She sighed, placing her dainty palm on the skinny child's shoulder. "Inari, go to your room," she muttered, placing emphasis on each word.

Crossing his arms, Inari, presumably the bridge builder's grandchild, fled the room in near-tears.

"Who was he?" asked Naruto, raising an eyebrow. Sakura closed her lids shut. She remembered the boy very well, and, for a moment, the rosette was glad she had chosen for Haku to take the swordsman's body away. Inari would not have overcome his problems if it weren't for a certain Uzumaki Naruto, and so she hoped for a repeat of last time's events.

"Forgive him, he's my son, Inari. His father was killed in an accident related to the bridge... and since then, he's been very dejected."

Silence filled the room as thoughts of the young child filled everyone's thoughts.

After a few moments, Kakashi said, "We should start training. If you boys - and Sakura - want to be able to take on _the _Hidden Swordsman of the Mist, Zabuza, we should begin now."

"Hai!"

* * *

Hatake Kakashi brought the three genin to a patch of tall, shady trees. They had thick, pristine straight trunks with an occasional branch or two protruding out of the end.

"Today we are going to learn about some chakra control," he lectured. Seeing the looks on Naruto and Sasuke's faces, he sighed. "Despite what you might think, this can actually improve your jutsus and also make it easier to learn other jutsus... so pay attention!"

He slowly hobbled towards the base of a tree and began walking up. Naruto gaped at his teacher, his jaw wide open.

Soon, Kakashi had reached a thick branch. He was standing on the underside of the branch like a bat hanging from its feet like it was the most natural thing on earth.

"I want you guys to accomplish this," he said, smiling beneath his mask.

When he was met with silence, he continued, "What you are basically doing is focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet, where it is the hardest to focus since it is the farthest away from your chi. By doing so, you can climb up this tree without difficulty. Try it."

Sakura rolled her eyes, a wave of nostalgia washing over her as she was the first to walk over to the lofty trees that awaited them. It had been ages since she had gone back to the basics, and now that she was finally here, she felt a bit giddy. Back in her academy days, she had always strived for perfection. When she did worse than say, Ino, in something such as flower arranging, she had always wanted to restart the day so that she could fix her mistakes and prove to Ino she wasn't worthless.

Staring at the unwavering tree, she grinned.

_Let's do this._

**_Cha!_**

She walked up the tree, making she she went as slowly as she could as to not arouse suspicion from her rather intelligent teacher. It did not feel out of the ordinary; in fact, felt as if she was walking on normal ground.

Meanwhile, the boys of Team 7 were struggling with their task. Sasuke's tree beared several burns where his feet had hit the bark. Naruto's tree, on the other hand, looked perfectly normal.

_I see, _the Uchiha mused. _Too much chakra, and the bark will scorch. But too little chakra... _He glanced at Naruto, who had landed on his buttocks. _And you won't be able to stay on the tree, either. This is quite tricky..._

"You can do it, guys!" yelled Sakura, sucessfully catching the attention of the remaining members of the team.

"W-woah, Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto in awe. "You did it!"

"Yup!" She giggled, as childishly as she could.

"Well, well, well..." Kakashi looked thoughtfully at the pink-haired adolescent sitting on top of a high branch several meters above. _Well, at least this is something I anticipated. After all, her report did mention a pretty high level of chakra control. _

"It looks like _someone _could become the Hokage at this rate, eh?" Kakashi teased. Naruto gasped in horror, before quickly attempting to take on the tree placed innocently in front of him again.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, neither Naruto or Sasuke had made much noteworthy progress. Time and time they tried again, until Naruto finally ceased his attempts.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Is he giving up already?_

Scratching his head in anxiety, the fox-faced blonde walked towards Sakura (who by now had leapt off the tree and was seated on the ground, watching Naruto and Sasuke's attempts amusedly). A foolish grin was plastered on his face.

"So, er, Sakura-chan..." He beckoned for her to come closer. She nodded. He whispered in her ear, "Could you tell me how you did it?" Sakura smirked, before answering, "Sure thing, Naruto."

_So he's already caught on about using teamwork. This boy is a fast learner. _The silver-haired jounin regarded the exchange with a lazy eye.

"So you see," Sakura whispered, "Pretend you're filling a bowl of dry ramen with hot water. The water that is being let out is like your chakra." Pointing to the variety of burn marks on the tree, she continued, "So far you've been using either too much or too little chakra, so your bowl of ramen is too watery or too salty." Naruto nodded in comprehension, grinning. "You want to use just the right amount of chakra so that the ramen tastes just right, got it?"

"Yup!" Naruto exclaimed cheekily. "Thanks Sakura-chan, that was so easy to explain!" Snickering, Naruto returned to his tree. _Time to beat Sasuke!_

_S_akura smiled in amusement. She had barely explained anything at all... but then, knowing Naruto, he was chock full of surprises.

"Hey, Sakura." Kakashi had caught the rosette's attention.

"Hai, sensei?"

"Seeing as you have nothing to do now, would you like to go and guard Tazuna for the rest of the day? I don't think Naruto and Sasuke will be ready any time soon."

"Well, actually, sensei..." she paused. "...Could you... teach me something else? You see, I want to do more training too."

"I see. Well then... meet me at the river near Tazuna-san's house."

* * *

_"Sakura." It was Kakashi. Sakura had just finished a training session with Rock Lee. _

_"Aa! Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura grinned. "What brings you here?" She had not spoken with Kakashi-sensei for a while since she had become the Fifth's apprentice._

_"I just wanted to say... I'm sorry." His eyes had a regretful glint to it. He looked away._

_"Huh? What for?" The pinkette raised her eyebrows. "Last time I checked, it was I who owed you money for ramen, not the other way around!"_

_"No, I mean... about your training."_

_"My.. training?"_

_"You see... ever since the Chuunin Exams - no. I mean... ever since you've been my student, I haven't been teaching you very well at all. So, I just wanted to apologize. I spent more time teaching Sasuke and Naruto then I've taught you... I've neglected you. I didn't mean to do that."_

_"Oh.." Sakura stared at her former teacher, awestruck. She had never blamed him for "neglecting her," as he put it, but for him to say it outright like this..._

_"Thank you, sensei." She chirped, smiling contentedly at her teacher._

_"R-really?" He raised an eyebrow. _

_"Yup! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have become the person I was today!" _

_"Well then... Thank **you, **Sakura." The silver-haired ex-ANBU grinned. _

_"No problem."_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And that's the end of the sixth chapter of Unwinding Time! A little boring, I'm aware, but I hope my constant updates will make up for it. I'm hoping to stick in some SasuSaku development (and overall team 7 development) in the next 1/2 chapters.

I hope I answered some unasked questions earlier this chapter, with Sakura's flashback with Tsunade. I meant to answer them earlier but I never got around to doing so, what with Sakura and the others being engaged in battle and all.

See you all next time, and remember to vote! ;}


	8. Walking on Water

**Unwinding Time**

by Reveri

* * *

**Votes:**

Please vote for a pairing already listed here! Thanks! :)

**ShikaIno: 3**

**NejiTen: 4**

**GaaSaku: 6**

**ShikaSaku: 9**

**NejiSaku:10**

**NaruHina: 13**

**SasuSaku: 15**

Thanks to all the kind people who read/reviewed my story! I appreciate it very much. *Special thanks to those who kindly pointed out that Inari's mother's name is Tsunami, not Tsume. It's now fixed. : )*

* * *

**Chapter 7: Walking on Water**

* * *

"Alright, then." said Kakashi, leaning heavily on his crutches for some much-needed support. He was still worn out from his previous battle, and the tree-climbing demonstration did nothing to help him.

He motioned towards the river in front of him, "We're going to try something called the Water Surface Walking technique. Like the Tree Climbing method, the purpose of this training excercise is to develop better chakra control. You are putting chakra in the bottom of your feet in order to stand on the surface of the water.

But there's a catch," he continued. "A tree is unwavering. It is steady and strong, and unchanging. A river, on the other hand, is constantly flowing and changing and moving. When you walk on a tree, you only need to worry about maintaining the same amount of chakra you are exerting. On water, however, you need to adapt to the different surfaces and densities of the water, which is why this technique is more advanced than the previous one. Got it?"

"Hai, sensei!" Sakura was listening intently. Of course, she had learned this technique already from Shizune, who kindly volunteered to teach Sakura some minor jutsu when Tsunade was too busy with her duties as the Hokage. Nonetheless, simply having Kakashi-sensei finally teach her and only _her _something for once made her grin wildly.

"I don't expect you to be able to do this the first time, even with your astounding abilities in chakra control. But eventually you should be able to perform this technique without even being aware about it. Now, I'll demonstrate this for you."

And with that, he hobbled towards the river, stepping on the surface of the clear river without hesitation.

When he finally reached the other side, he turned around and smiled - or at least it seemed so, under his mask, and called, "You try, Sakura." Just as she was about to step on the water, he added, "You might want to take off your dress in case you get wet. Oh, and your sandals too. That makes it easier for you to walk on the water."

The kunoichi's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise she did not speak. She knew he was only trying to help (and the fact that he looked so worn out prevented her from wanting to punch him into the next century).

She nodded, stripping of her qipao dress and sandals. Now dressed in her mesh top and ninja shorts, she confidently placing her feet on the icy liquid. A familiar tickling sensation grazed her feet.

Hesitatingly, she walked towards the other side, hoping to seem somewhat afraid (and unsuspicious).

* * *

_Sakura leapt across the rooftops at an amazing speed for a normal human. Once the civilians were successfully placed inside the Hokage monuments, she had immediately headed towards Ino and the others. She had no time to waste - it was something she had drilled inside her head ever since she had become a proper medic. Each second could mean the loss of someone's life. She clenched her fists, forcing her legs to run faster. _

_"Sakura!" It was Kakashi-sensei. He himself was leaping among another set of rooftops. His headband was no longer tilted down; his Sharingan eye was open. _

_"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Sakura, not halting, but nonetheless going at a slightly slower pace. _

_"You shouldn't exert yourself too much," teased the jounin. "What will everyone do if one of Konoha's best medics is too tired to do anything?" _

_Sakura grinned. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei, but I'd never let that happen."_

_He smiled. "Maybe I should teach you a new technique after this is all over, hmm?" His hands formed the ram seal before he dissapeared, a cloud of smoke following in his wake. _

* * *

_Tsunade had left to prepare the scroll that would send her back in time; meanwhile, Sakura stared at the bodies of her fallen comrades._

_The kunoichi looked at her ex-teacher. Even in death, his mask was still on. She chuckled softly. His face was no longer serious and composed; in fact, he looked peaceful and young. There was even a hint of naivety in his features._

_He looked as if he were sleeping._

_"Kakashi-sensei..."_

* * *

"Ack!" Sakura had fallen into the depths of the river. She spluttered for a moment before swimming to the edge of the river, catching her breath.

"Don't worry Sakura - like I said, I wasn't expecting you to get all the way across. You've done a great job."

"Y-yeah. Thanks Kakashi-sensei." She was shaken. Never had she ever fallen in a river before (at least not since she had mastered the technique). Heck, she could have performed surgery on a ninja in a critical condition and she would still be able to cross the river without any problems.

She stood up. Her knees began to buckle under her weight before Kakashi kindly gripped her hand.

**_Why are you so nervous? You almost did it! Cha!_**

_It's... I don't know... _

_It's just because the water is cold, that's why I'm shaking_, she told herself, gritting her teeth.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei."

"No problem. Now, would you like to try again?"

"H-hai."

* * *

An hour or so had passed, and Naruto was finally getting the hang of the jutsu. In fact, judging by the kunai that served as marks on the worn-out bark of the lofty trees, he was ahead of Sasuke by several feet.

The Uchiha, panting as he glared up at the small foot-sized dents on his tree, frowned. It didn't take a genius to realize that Sakura's words had somehow helped Naruto.

_I can't believe I'm doing this... _the Uchiha mused.

"Naruto..."

"Eh?" The blonde stared at him, an eyebrow raised.

"What did Sakura tell you?" He muttered, a small blush present on his face.

Naruto grinned, crossing his arms. "If you wanted help, you could've just said so earlier!"

"Just tell me," scoffed the Uchiha, not meeting Naruto's eyes.

"Alright!" and then Naruto began to explain to Sasuke, of course, using the same ramen analogy Sakura had told him.

Sasuke stared at the knucklehead, dumbfounded.

"...Sakura told you that?"

"Yup! What's wrong? It's great advice!"

_You call **that **advice? But more importantly... he improved from understanding **that? **_He shook his head in disbelief.

"Whatever."

* * *

"Wow... I certainly wasn't expecting you to make it on your second try," Kakashi complimented. He was indeed impressed.

"Hehe... well, it's all thanks to you, Kakashi-sensei!"

"I see. So, Sakura." His tone had changed into that of a more serious one. "Why were you acting so strangely on our way to the Land of Waves? Not only have your skilles drastically improved during this mission, but you have used techniques that I have never taught the three of you before. Care to explain?"

The rosette gulped, staring into the onyx eye of her teacher. She had not expected for him to interrogate her so suddenly - it caught her off guard.

And yet, as soon as he had looked at her reaction, the white-haired jounin smiled good-naturedly at his student. "Let's head towards the boys and see how they're doing, shall we?" He walked ahead of her, pulling out a familiar orange book as he did so.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows.

_What just happened?_

* * *

Both boys had reached the branch Sakura had managed to sit on earlier, but for both of them, it was not enough.

Naruto glared peevishly at the raven-haired boy on his left.

_So he managed to reach here too, eh... well I'll show him! I'll get even higher up!_

"Naruto, Sasuke..kun!"

The Uchiha noticed the way his teammate called his name strangely, but chose not to comment. Instead, he muttered, "Sakura..."

"Hmm?"

"Why are you dripping wet..?"

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Naruto panicked, staring at Sakura, then Kakashi, and back to Sakura again. "SAKURA, YOU'RE PRACTICALLY NAKED! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, KAKASHI-SENSEI!"

Kakashi rose one of his hands in defense, "Ehehe... well you see, Naruto-kun,"

"NARUTO, YOU BAKA!" yelled Sakura, clenching her fist. "WE WERE PRACTICING, YOU IDIOT! AND I'M NOT NAKED!"

"P-practicing?" Naruto's eyes widened as round as dinner plates. Sasuke froze, staring at Sakura oddly.

"...Not THAT way, you pervert!" the pinkette growled. She was dying to leap up into that tree, haul the loudmouth by the collar, and give him a good scolding.

Sensing an onslaught of yelling and punching coming along, the elite jounin quickly interjected, "Now, now, you two... Sakura, you're done for the day, so you can go ahead and change and then guard Tazuna-san."

Sakura left, muttering something along the lines of "that stupid little idiot..." as she left.

"Now, as for you two... you can stop training as well. I see you've both done pretty well."

"I'm not stopping!" yelled Naruto, frowning. "I've gotta beat that teme over there!"

"Hmph." stated Sasuke, as if this word alone could represent his thoughts.

The ex-ANBU sighed, eyeing the two wearily. "I thought so."

* * *

Sakura arrived at the worksite, where Tazuna-san among quite a few other men were working on the rebuilding of the bridge.

"Tazuna-san!" she yelled, running over to his side. "May I help?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're just a girl, you wouldn't be able to lift all these heavy things," he gestured towards several thick planks of wood and other heavy machinery."

Sakura scoffed, before continuing, "Just tell me what to do - I'll do it, promise."

"Alright," he sighed. "I need you to take these planks of wood to the edge of this bridge. I'm sure you can do it." Doubt laced his voice.

Not bothering to reply, Sakura hoisted up said planks of wood.

_They're a bit heavier than usual, seeing as I'm weaker than before, but it's nothing much. _

She then walked calmly towards the area Tazuna had instructed her to go to as if she was carrying nothing but a feather.

Several men gaped at the kunoichi, the master bridge builder included. He, however, was the first to regain his composure. "Come on, everyone!" he yelled, grinning. "We don't want to be bested by a child, do we?"

* * *

Sakura and Tazuna, both worn out from their morning's work, entered the streets of the Land of the Waves. The pinkette, vividly remembering her visit here, grimaced.

"I need to buy some food for lunch," the man grumbled, eyeing the run-down grocery store a street ahead.

Sakura nodded, frowning at the people who walked by around her. They all had the same, dejected look. It was something she hated dearly.

"We're here." said Tazuna, raising his bamboo hat by an inch or so. Sakura's sights, however, fell on a small dark haired boy who was sitting against the grimy walls of the 'grocery shop'. He looked the same age as Inari, except his clothes had large holes in them and he was so skinny his bones were sticking out.

"Hey..." the pinkette muttered, crouching down so that she was eye-level with the boy. He gazed up at her, fear flashing across his eyes.

"Y-yes?" His voice was hoarse.

"Take this." She placed several gold coins in his palm - it was enough for several bowls of ramen at Naruto's favourite ramen stall, Ichiraku, but Sakura inwardly knew this much money would've lasted two weeks' worth of food.

His eyes lit up like a lightbulb. His hands shook excitedly.

"T-thank you so much, miss!"

Sakura grinned, although she felt extremely guilty. The last time she was here as a genin, she had done nothing but give a child candy before leaving and consume Tazuna's hard-earned food. Maybe she could pay back for all her mistakes here somehow...

She prepared herself for the blow of pity as she entered the grocery store, but it was no use. There was barely any food in the shop, nevermind customers. Not to mention, each vegetable was so overpriced and rotten it was absurd. Tazuna merely frowned as he took out his pouch.

"Tazuna-san, I'll pay," muttered Sakura.

"What? I'll let you do no such thing," he scolded lightly.

"But my teammates and I will be eating off of you all anyway, and it wouldn't be in the least polite," she tried to reason.

"We underpaid you greatly for this mission," he grunted, taking a few small carrots and cabbages.

"You had no choice!"

"We're just going in circles. I'm paying, and that's final. I can't have someone, especially a child, paying for my food."

The kunoichi pouted, crossing her arms.

"You don't need to show me pity." And with that, he paid for his groceries.

* * *

Author's Note:

Well, another filler chapter, I guess. :P Oh well, at least it had something new, like some flashbacks of the "present" time. Anyway, the voting will soon come to a close, so vote while you still can! :)

I will hopefully update again this weekend so get ready for some more action coming along!


	9. Suspicion

**Unwinding Time**

by Reveri

* * *

**Votes:**

Please vote for a pairing already listed here~

**ShikaIno: 5**

**GaaSaku: 6**

**NejiTen: 7**

**ShikaSaku: 10***

**NejiSaku: 11***

**NaruHina: 15**

**SasuSaku: 18**

*I've noticed these two Sakura pairings (besides SasuSaku) have a lot of votes as well. In the event that SasuSaku is the final pairing, I'll take the second most-voted Sakura pairing (ShikaSaku/NejiSaku) and then incorporate a bit of it into the story, but still ending with (ShikaIno and NejiTen.) What do you think? :]

Anyway, thanks for all the great reviews - they make me giggle in delight!

* * *

**Chapter 8: Suspicion **

* * *

The following morning, Naruto and Kakashi were, surprisingly, the first to wake up. Not wanting to wake up Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto whispered, "Sensei… can I go for a walk?"

The jounin raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to go for a walk?"

Naruto's glare at Sasuke explained it all. Then, forcing himself to look away, he muttered, "Well… I, er…"

"Just go ahead and train," Kakashi muttered in a bored tone.

The blonde then immediately donned his bright orange jacket and left.

"You forgot your -" started Kakashi, only to be silenced by the _click _of a door closing shut. "Ninja pouch."

* * *

"Everything's about Sasuke, isn't it, forehead girl?" Ino glared at the pinkette. "Even after I saved your life... how could you do this to me?"

"W-what? No! I want to save you Ino! I want to save all of you!"

"You were always a bad liar."

"It's not the way you think!"

A new voice emerged. "You don't deserve to be alive. You never helped at all. And now that you're back you're just going to do the same thing you did four years ago... nothing." It was Kakashi-sensei. The kunoichi paled.

"Sensei... I-"

"Sakura-chan... he killed me. And yet you still treat him like you've always done. Don't you ever feel anything for me?"

Sakura flinched, turning around. "No... Naruto...Please..."

* * *

"NO!" Sakura screamed. Immediately, the ex-ANBU Hatake Kakashi and a groggy Sasuke who had still been in his portable futon jolted.

"Sakura...? Are you all right?" said Kakashi-sensei, his voice laced with worry.

"Sakura..." Sasuke muttered, staring at her. He frowned.

Said girl looked at the pair blankly, feeling slight nausea from standing up so suddenly. Her gaze then fell on the Uchiha.

"_You," _she seethed. She clenched her fists. Bright blue chakra was visible, causing the hairs on Sasuke's neck to stand up. He stared at her for a few seconds.

Why did she have to remind him so much about his own feelings towards Itachi..?

"I'm going to _kill _you!"

"_Sakura._" It was Kakashi, and his face had hardened at Sakura's words. "Stop this right now."

The glint in the rosette's eyes immediately dissapeared, and with that, her knees buckled as well. She gazed, wide-eyed, at either of her teammates.

"Naruto..." she whispered. She got up, awkwardly brushed the dust off her dress, and headed towards the front door. A small pouch met her foot, causing her to halt in her tracks.

Naruto's ninja pouch.

Without a word, the 'genin' picked up the pouch and exited the front door with a slam.

For the next few moments, a heavy silence filled the room. The tension was so thick it was as if Kakashi and Sasuke were submerged in water.

Finally, the elite jounin decided to speak up.

"Sasuke. I need to talk with you."

* * *

Once outside, Sakura had calmed down quite a bit. She had expected Inner Sakura to scold her, but thankfully, she had never came.

_I'd better find Naruto. He probably needs his pouch. Then... I'll go for a walk. _She mused.

* * *

The Uchiha stared at his teacher, nodding mutely.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious about Sakura lately?"

"...Yes."

"Oh?"

"She..." he grit his teeth, lowering his head. "Ita...chi."

"...What about your brother?" Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows.

"The way she looks at me... like I'm a cold-blooded murderer. Like.. _him." _He shivered, clenching his eyes shut. He hated the look she gave him. He was _different _from Itachi.

Kakashi immediately turned grim. He was certainly not expecting this. And compared to the information he got, it made absolutely no sense.

"Sasuke... I'm about to disclose some extremely important information regarding Sakura that I found out about yesterday."

"..." The curious, hurt look Sasuke gave him was enough of a cue to allow him to continue.

"Do you know why the Sharingan was sometimes used as an interrogation method?"

Sasuke frowned at the sudden change in topic, but chose not to comment on it. "No. Why?"

"It can detect tiny, miniscule eye movements. I'm sure you know why one thing we always do when interrogating an S-class criminal is examining their eye movements while they talk."

"!" Sasuke's eyes widened in realisation.

"Yes. Sakura gave me the perfect opportunity to investigate what exactly was going on in her head yesterday." He paused, staring at the young Uchiha with a dead seriousness in his voice. "It was jumbled. Half of the time her eye movements showed thoughts about how cute you were, how stupid Naruto was, her appearance, childish things twelve-year-olds normally think about. But... the other half of the time, one message was definitely clear.

She wanted to save you."

* * *

Sakura arrived at the makeshift training site Kakashi had found only to realize Naruto wasn't there. She thought nothing of it, venturing futher into the woods.

It was only five minutes later, when the familiar glimpse of orange was still not in sight, did Sakura panic.

"Naruto..." she growled. "Where are you?"

"Naruto!"

"N-!" She instantly stopped as she felt two strong chakra signatures.

One of them was definitely Naruto, but...

"Haku..." she gasped. Increasing her pace, she leapt on several branches, nearly missing one. Finally, she reached the clearing... and the pair of signatures. Forcing herself to calm down, she eavesdropped on the two.

"So, what's your wish?" Naruto's pre-pubescent voice rang through the crisp forest air, startling Sakura.

_What in the world...? _

"Well," it was Haku... but he was wearing a very feminine kimono, and his face looked as innocent as an angel's. "I want to protect the person most precious to me. Protecting someone precious to you makes you strong."

"Heh," chuckled Naruto, "I can agree with that."

Sakura's face darkened. _Protecting someone most precious to you... _

A few moments later, Haku said, "I should be going now. I'll see you later."

"Aah, okay!" Naruto chirped, scratching his head casually.

"Oh... by the way, I'm a boy."

"WHAT!" Naruto stared, open-mouthed.

The long-haired boy giggled very un-manly, and continued, "Bye, Naruto... and his teammate." He left.

"Eh...?" the jinchuuriki raised an eyebrow. "What teammate?"

"She meant me."

"AH!" Naruto yelled, startled out of his spot. "S-S-Sakura-chan! What're you doing here?"

"I was going to bring this to you, idiot, but you weren't there," muttered Sakura, tossing the ninja pouch to its rightful owner.

"Eh, thanks, Sakura-chan! I-"

"YOU BAKA!" The rosette yelled, frowning at the blonde. "What would've happened if you had died! All of a sudden you were gone!"

Naruto grinned. "You were worried about me?"

Sakura scoffed, crossing her arms. "I wasn't. Let's go."

* * *

"I'll see you later, Naruto," muttered Sakura, running her fingers through her candy-pink hair. "I've got an old man to guard."

"Alright! See ya later, Sakura-chan!" And just like that, Naruto was back to training. He ran up the tree with all his might, quickly scraping the bark with his kunai as he felt himself sliding downwards.

Sakura began walking towards the main road that would lead her to the incomplete bridge (and Tazuna's house), her pale face facing skyward in thought.

"Sakura." It was Sasuke. Sakura looked in front of her, startled.

"Oh." She muttered, blushing in embarassment at her earlier actions. Sasuke, who had not bothered to notice this, continued, "What're you..." He shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts. "Where are you going?"

"The bridge. I'm going to continue guarding Tazuna-san," said Sakura, glad the Uchiha had not chosen to bring up the earlier events.

"Aa." And he left, his real question unspoken.

_What're you trying to save me from?_

_

* * *

_

The silver-haired jounin frowned, unable to concentrate on his beloved orange book, Icha-Icha tactics.

Naturally, he had not told Sasuke the entire 'message' he had received from Sakura's intruiging eye movements, as the rest did not concern him. If anything, Kakashi had been more confused than before - there were even more unanswered questions that needed to be answered.

Sakura's "serious" messages, as Kakashi had dubbed it, had consisted of this: Tsunade, counter clockwise, save Sasuke, and mission. Kakashi had finally figured out who Sakura's techniques had reminded him so much of, but the question remained: How on earth did Sakura manage to learn from the great female Sannin? Not to mention, the clear indication of moving backwards and an intricate mission puzzled the jounin to no end.

He needed to talk to the Lord Hokage, and fast.

Quiet sniffing noises interrupted the tranquil silence, alerting Kakashi. He left the cozy room, sliding open the thin wooden door to meet Inari sulking in a corner.

"..Inari?" The child stared at the jounin, rubbing his eyes vigorously, and looked away in pain.

"He called me a coward," muttered the stout little boy. Hatake Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Naruto."

The jounin paused. He had never been good with kids, which was the main reason he did not have any. For a few moments he regarded the child with something akin to pity. Then, he said, "Naruto grew up not knowing his mother and father."

Inari stared at the jounin. "W-what?"

"I've never seen him cry before." Sighing, Kakashi mused, moreso to himself than Inari (although the child nonetheless heard him), "Perhaps it was because he got tired of crying."

With that, Kakashi excused himself, no longer interested in his thick book for the time being.

* * *

That night, neither Sakura, Sasuke, nor Kakashi spoke a word to each other as they prepared for bed. The only one oblivious to it all was Naruto, who chattered away happily about his training as he took out his favourite sleeping cap.

"And then I saw a squirrel and it was chomping so hard on its little acorn that it didn't even notice me coming! And when I did it squeaked so hard that -"

"Naruto," sighed Sasuke. "Shut up."

The loudmouth blonde pouted before snuggling into his small futon. Loud snores filled the room not five minutes after.

_...What a fast sleeper, _mused Sakura, her eyebrows twitching at Naruto's childish manner.

Then, she too retired to bed. She wanted to forget about her dream, Sasuke, everything.

* * *

The raven-haired Uchiha woke in the middle of the night, startled by soft sniffling and stifled sobs. Slowly, quietly, he shuffled around in his futon to meet the back of the pink-haired kunoichi several feet away from him. Her back shook, and she was shivering.

As much as he hated to admit it, he knew how the girl felt. It had been the same way for him the days following the Uchiha massacre. At nights he could not sleep - the vivid images of his clan's deaths were imprinted in his mind, refusing to dissappear.

But, he reminded himself, it was different from Sakura. She had friends. She had family. So why was she crying?

_What's going on? _

__

_

* * *

_

Sakura awoke to a rather annoying itch on her nose. She gasped.

_Tsunade-sama!_

Acknowledging Kakashi-sensei, who was the only one awake with a nod, she proceeded to head into the small, compact washroom located in the run-down house and barricaded herself in. Hands trembling in excitement, she unfurled the scroll.

_Sakura, _

_This is **extremely urgent, **so please read it as soon as possible when no one is around. _

_I looked into Kakashi's files the other day, and I only JUST realized (I'm not in charge of the interrogation unit, after all) that his sharingan is capable of detecting any ninja's eye movements, a key factor in interrogation. Be careful not to make eye contact with him. As much as I trust Kakashi from the past, he might accidentally be a hazard to you on this mission. _

_Talk to you soon, _

_Tsunade. _

Sakura's pale face instantly drained of the little color it had left.

"I really underestimated him, didn't I..." she whispered, clenching her forehead in exasperation. Everything made sense now - the way Kakashi would let things slide as soon as he saw her reaction, still using his Sharingan eye the other day even when he was injured...

How could she have missed it?

* * *

Author's Note:

And that concludes chapter nine of Unwinding Time! :) Special thanks to **Gazing on the Arabesque **for some helpful advice that made writing this chapter easier. 3


	10. Second Time Around

**Unwinding Time**

by Reveri

* * *

**Votes:**

Please vote for a pairing already listed here~

**ShikaIno: 6**

**GaaSaku: 7**

**NejiTen, ShikaSaku: 10**

**NejiSaku: 11**

**NaruHina: 17**

**SasuSaku: 24**

Okay, so I'm thinking of wrapping up the Land of the Waves arc by the end of the next chapter. This means that voting will also end by the beginning of next-next chapter; in other words, Chapter 11.

In the mean time, enjoy the next chapter of Unwinding Time~!

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 9: Second Time Around **

* * *

_An eleven-year old Sakura returned home, heaving a sigh as she did so. There was something different about her today. Her favourite red ribbon from Ino, which she normally wore around her head as a headband, was strangely missing. _

_"Sakura!" a woman in her early forties, presumably Sakura's mother, entered the hall. Seeing the dejected look on her daughter's face, she sighed sympathetically. "What's wrong?" she asked._

_For a moment, Sakura didn't answer, but looked away ashamedly. Finally, the young academy-student could longer take it. _

_She sulked, "I stopped being friends with Ino."_

_The Haruno woman raised an eyebrow. "Why?" _

_"Because…well… I hate living in her shadow!" She wiped away a stray tear. "I want her… to see the real me." _

_Sakura's mother frowned. "You told her that and she agreed?"_

_The pink-haired adolescent sighed. "No, not exactly…"_

_"Hmmm?" The Haruno mother raised her eyebrows, leading the girl into a roomy, gleaming kitchen. The middle-aged woman had peachy-orange hair, tied back into a braid. She unloaded an assortment of groceries into a small fridge._

_"I told her I wanted to become rivals. For Sasuke-kun!"_

_"Sakura… he's just –"_

_"He's just a boy! I know mom!" Sakura shouted, irritated. She then calmed herself down and forced herself to talk normally. "It's just, well, I wish I hadn't. I love Sasuke-kun – " Sakura's mother scoffed - "but I still wish Ino could've been my friend." Sakura sat on a stool, burying her face in her arms. _

_"I wish I could go back in time," she muttered childishly._

_Sakura's mother laughed. "I know you may be the first kunoichi the Haruno clan has had for quite a while, but you can't expect to be able to do everything."_

_"I know, I know." _

_She smiled lovingly at her daughter. "So, Sakura-chan. If you could go back in time, what would you do?"_

_Sakura frowned, resting her head on her right palm. "I'd… I'd talk to Sasuke-kun earlier! And maybe…" she paused. "Maybe I'd take back my words with Ino."_

_"Well..." the peach-haired woman smiled. "Everything happens for a reason. If you turned back time, there wouldn't be any meaning to life. Right?"_

_"Eh? What do you mean?" Sakura chirped. _

_"Maybe you'll find out someday. Now, help me unload these, will you?"_

* * *

Sakura exited the washoom, clenching the black scroll tightly in her fist. It would've been so much easier for her to simply reveal her situation to her team, but the three of them would definitely doubt her - after all, time travel had been unheard of until Tsunade's invention.

She had been so eager to save the ones she loved she didn't stop to consider how hard of a task it would be. And as the novelty of time travel and wore off, Sakura was beginning to realise what exactly this mission entailed.

Her, saving Konoha?

What a joke.

Even as a chuunin, the most Sakura had been able to accomplish was being a reputable medic-nin. But as a kunoichi?

She had failed. She had failed to save her friends and just when she could have fixed it all, she was messing it up again. Sakura Haruno was still the same old weak ninja who relied on others.

"It's hopeless." she muttered, hugging her knees once she had entered Tazuna's living room.

"What is?" It was Naruto. He had just finished another massive breakfast and was stretching casually.

"A-ah! Naruto!" Sakura leapt out of her seat and chuckled awkwardly. "Nothing, nothing! I-"

"I'm not an idiot, Sakura-chan." Naruto scoffed. "I saw you! You're acting just like Inari was yesterday. How many times do I need to tell you people that nothing's hopeless? We will beat Zabuza even if it costs my life, believe it!"

"I-"

"Don't give up before you even know the result!" Naruto crossed his arms, grinning down like a bright ray of sunshine towards Sakura. His look was contagious - soon Sakura willed herself to smile too, even though she felt far from smiling at the moment.

"...Thanks, Naruto." Inwardly, she sighed. She couldn't help but feel better with his encouragement, even if her worries lay elsewhere.

"Don't mention it, Sakura-chan!"

As if Naruto had not just scolded Sakura, the pair then exited the room, both engaging in light conversation.

A lone eye, hidden by the shadows, narrowed.

* * *

"Right," said Kakashi cheerfully, eyeing his three students. "Naruto, you're to stay here today. Sasuke, Sakura -"

"HEY!" interrupted Naruto, glaring at his superior, "Why am I the only one staying?"

"Because, " retorted the jounin, rolling his eyes at the brat, "We need you to protect our ramen stashes."

"Ooh, I see!"

"..."

"No, you-" Sakura hissed, cutting herself off before she could say idiot. She momentarily fell quiet as she remembered a scene that had happened like this not too long ago, before Naruto... "Nevermind," she muttered, looking away so as to not reveal the flicker of hurt that flashed in her eyes.

"Eh?" Naruto turned to look at his female teammate, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

Kakashi sighed, letting Sakura's awkward actions slide for now. "Naruto, I was only joking. I need you to guard Tazuna and the others. The chance of them being attacked..." he paused, "is not very likely, but we must take necessary precautions."

If Naruto had been happy about protecting Team seven's hidden ramen supply (not that they had any), he was estatic at this more recent task. "Alright! A special task for me! I'll do it to the best of my ablilty, believe it!"

"Right. Anyway, Sasuke, Sakura. You two will be accompanying me to guard Tazuna and the bridge today, as usual." As an afterthought, he muttered, "Something tells me today's going to be a long day..."

Immediately after Team 7's brief 'meeting', Sakura began packing up some supplies into her worn-out pouch. Today was the day she would battle Zabuza and Haku... and this time, for real. She clenched her fists determinedly, staring at the contents of her pouch. A few meters to the right, she noted Naruto was holding a small cup of ramen. He stared at it for a few seconds, his face blank - oddly uncharacteristic for the so-called loudmouth ninja. Sakura frowned. Just how naive had she been four years ago? Each day she noticed more subtle things about her teammates - the way Kakashi would not flip a page of his Icha-Icha book for several hours, obviously in deep thought. The way Naruto's face temporarily lacked any emotion. The way Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut when he thought no one was looking. She felt a stab of pain each time they did this, like their pain was her pain.

"N-Naruto," muttered Sakura. Naruto straightened up, looking at Sakura. A grin quickly spread across his face.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"You like ramen?"

"Of course I do!" proclaimed the blonde, hugging the ramen cup close to his chest like a baby.

"Why?" the kunoichi looked at him in the eye.

"E-eh? Obviously because it tastes good, Sakura-chan!" Naruto seemed confused. He raised an eyebrow.

Sakura stared at the ramen cup Naruto was holding. She recognized the labels on the cup - it was the kind sold in bulk, numerous and cheap. She knew Naruto had not bothered to mention that it was also because ramen was cheaper than fresh produce.

"Cool," she muttered absently in reply, though Naruto had already redirected his thoughts elsewhere.

* * *

_A young girl dressed in a blue sweater and navy shorts held her mother's comforting hand as she walked through the streets of Konoha. The sun was slowly beginning to set - it's warm orange glow began to lose its touch. The girl looked no older than five or six._

_She had been talking nonstop to her mother about the "handsome" boy she had seen in the park the other day. _

_"He could do those "gootsus", mom! "Gootsus!"_

_The older woman chuckled. "Don't you mean "jutsus", Sakura-chan?"_

_"Aah.. yes." The little girl blushed, her lips curving into an innocent smile. _

_"Well, I'm not surprised. He **is **an Uchiha, after all." _

_"Uchiha?"_

_"Yes, sweetie. Now, why don't you -"_

_"Mom! Look! Look!" The girl's attention had been stolen by a large, smooth sheet of parchment that had been taped on to a tall metal pole. _

_The sheet read:_

_**Kononoha Ninja Academy - Now Accepting! **in big block letters. A small list of basic requirements as well as a hand-drawn picture of a kunai followed. _

_"I wanna go!" shouted Sakura, jumping up and down in excitement. "I wanna do some of those cool jutsu!"_

_"Oh?" the older woman said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's the only reason why you want to go?"_

_"Well..." the girl grinned. "I would like to see the boy from the U-Uchwa-"_

_"Uchiha," corrected the mother._

_"Uchiha clan again," finished the pinkette-haired girl. "Oh please, mom! Can I go? I promise to be good!"_

_"Well..." the mother frowned. Clearly, she knew what becoming a kunoichi would entail. "We'll talk about it with your father, okay?"_

_"Alright!" shouted Sakura, grinning wildly. _

_

* * *

_

Sakura sighed. With no conversation at all as they steadily travelled to the bridge, memories were beginning to reenter her mind. Back then, she had thought of being a kunoichi as a game - something purely learned from books and a nice teacher. Until she had been to the Land of Waves, of course. From there, everything changed.

The trio soon reached the bridge. Very few workers were there, Tazuna himself included. It was obvious that more and more were growing weary and doubtful of the treacherous and impossible task that lay ahead. Even those who stayed were beginning to get hopeless. The lack of enthusiasm did nothing to stop Tazuna's spirit, however. While others paused for a break, he plowed on, hammering a nail, carrying a piece of wood, glancing at his carefully-drawn diagrams.

And then she felt him.

Tiny droplets of moisture were beginning to fill the air. Sakura narrowed her eyes, trying to sense any presence.

Zabuza was coming.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke all tensed and all assumed a fighting stance at the same time. The brief warning was not enough, however, as the atmosphere immediately filled with mist.

"We meet again..."

The trio tensed, all pulling out a kunai.

* * *

Omg I'm sorrry : This chapter was so short! Just wanted to update what I've done so far. I've got everything planned out for the Chunin exams and beyond, but this arc is stumping me. xD Until then, back to more planning :P


	11. Team Seven

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

* * *

**A big thank you to those who pointed out the minor issue in chapters 7 and 8! **It should hopefully be fixed by now.

Also, the voting period has finally ended! The final pairings are:

**SasuSaku, NaruHina, and NejiTen! **(There will be hints of other pairings, and some may even become final pairings as well depending on how the story goes.) Thanks to everyone who voted!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Team Seven**

* * *

The lone kunoichi clenched the leathery handles of her kunai tightly. Her heart was pounding so fast it was a wonder her teammates had not heard it yet. She trembled slightly, biting her lip.

Out of nowhere, several Zabuza clones appeared, each with a menacing look on his face. Sakura narrowed her eyes. It wasn't like Zabuza to reveal himself so quickly... which must mean the clones before them were all fake. Sasuke seemed to sense the same thing, for he immediately launched a barrage of weapons towards the clones. They exploded into puddles of water.

Meanwhile, Sakura was already maintaining a defensive stance in front of Tazuna, readying herself for the real Zabuza and Haku. As soon as she had done so, the duo appeared, standing calmly several feet away on the other side of the incompleted bridge.

Immediately, Sasuke lunged for Haku. Sakura noticed a small glint of red - the Sharingan.

_He was so young when he activated it..._ she mused.

**_Earth to Sakura! There's a battle going on!_**

"Right," scowled Sakura under her breath, trying to formulate a plan in her mind. The last time this happened, it seemed as if their target was not Tazuna but rather Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto. It would most likely not be too bad if she strayed a little distance away from Tazuna.

Kakashi performed a roundhouse kick which Zabuza stealthily countered with an attack of his own, slashing his heavy sword right at Kakashi's neck. The copy-cat ninja performed the ram seal, dissappearing and reappearing behind the swordsman with a kunai in hand pointed straight his back. Zabuza grinned under his mask, pivoting around and swinging his sword at the white-haired jounin who jumped back just in time.

Sakura frowned. She would have liked to assist Kakashi but she couldn't think of anything - if she missed there would be the danger of hitting Kakashi instead. She instead looked at Sasuke and Haku, who were also having a similar fight. Sasuke and Haku were equally fast - but Sasuke's fire type jutsu and better stamina certainly overpowered Haku and it was giving him a definite advantage. However, Sakura knew this wouldn't last very long as Haku was bound to unleash his bloodline limit sooner or later.

_I need to find an opening so I can land a hit on Haku without the chance of hitting Sasuke… _she thought, returning her kunai back into her pouch and readying her fists_. And if that fails, I can always resort to genjutsu. _

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" An enormous ball of fire seemed to erupt from the Uchiha's mouth, shooting like a jet towards Haku. The older boy evaded the great ball of fire by leaping to the left, grabbing several senbon from inside his sleeve and casting it in Sasuke's direction with deadly accuracy.

The Uchiha leapt back several feet with a smirk. This guy was fast, he had to admit – but he was faster. He grabbed several shuriken from a separate pouch he kept on his back, preparing to throw them…

"CHA!" From his left, Sakura leapt into the air, her fist glowing with visible blue chakra. Haku dodged in the nick of time, doing a back flip that placed him out of Sakura's reach. Her fist was about to collide with the ground when she suddenly stopped, inches away from smashing the bridge.

_I have to control myself… I can't break this bridge, otherwise Tazuna's hard work would have been all for naught! _

Sakura performed several handseals, yelling: "Genjutsu: Flower Petal Attack!"

Behind his mask, Haku's eyes widened. "Damn," he cursed, clapping his hands together and attempting to focus his chakra.

Meanwhile, Sasuke landed several blows on the motionless Haku, frowning as he did so.

_What was that? _he thought, frowning as Haku landed with a thud. He did not get another chance to attack Haku after that, for Haku then groaned and stood up. Before Sakura could do anything further, the masked boy performed a seal Sakura could not recognize, shouting: "Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors!"

"No!" yelled Sakura, dashing towards the Uchiha as fast as she could. She pushed him with all her might, sending him flying a few meters away. The Uchiha grunted, tumbling onto the dusty surface of the unfinished bridge. Catching his breath, he looked up to see Sakura surrounded by mammoth-sized mirrors of towering ice. The raven haired adolescent gaped at the scene unfolding in front of him.

"Sakura…"

"Sasuke!" yelled Sakura from inside the "dome". Her voice reverberated against the sturdy walls of ice. "Whatever you do, don't come in!"

"Hn." muttered Sasuke, taking out the shuriken he had intended to use earlier. They were attatched to long, thin clear strings that were sturdy enough for his plan. He threw them towards the dome of ice, watching in satisfaction as the shurikens slipped through an opening between two mirrors. Then, pulling the strings with the slightest amount of force, the shuriken reappeared from another gap and returned in Sasuke's direction, looping around one of the mirrors. Sasuke caught the other side of the string, shouting: "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

The fire travelled along the string towards the mirror. The flames grew taller with each passing second as it neared its destination. It had to work - it just had to.

* * *

The pinkette's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, shivering slightly as the cold air began to set in. She felt a little panicked - she was caught in Haku's bloodline limit and now the tides were turned - everything was in Haku's favor now...

Haku appeared in one of the mirrors, and then the next one, and the next, until he appeared in each mirror. Sakura was surrounded. The kunoichi frowned, experimentally throwing several kunai in each direction.

Haku's reaction was instantaneous. Immediately each of the Haku's began to blur. Each kunai seemed to bounce off thin air, falling limply to the ground. Out of nowhere, senbon began to fly down like raindrops, hitting Sakura on the knee, the shoulder, her back -

The rosette gasped in pain, immediately pulling out the senbon. It was a habit she had produced over the years of training - you never knew when a senbon could be laced with poison. She healed the wounds, watching grimly as they closed up, scarred, and then dissappeared.

"So you have medic ninjutsu abilities..." Haku's voice echoed. Sakura ignored this.

_He must be moving around at a speed to fast to see with the naked eye... so that means my genjutsu won't work, since he's too fast for me to maintain eye contact... which means I'll have to resort to something else..._

Sakura formed several hand seals, finally seperating and straightening one hand to form a bright blue chakra scalpel. She then sped towards one mirror, attempting to strike the smooth surface. No sooner than she had attempted this did Haku's reflections turn blurry again as he charged through Sakura's way, knocking her off balance. It was all she could to do not cry in pain as she was sent tumbling in the other direction. When she rose again, however, she noticed with minor satisfaction that there was a small gash on Haku's shoulder.

_What should I do now... _thought Sakura, frowning. _I remember Haku's stamina not being very good... maybe if I last long enough, he'll run out of chakra... his bloodline limit surely uses up a lot of it, after all..._

Suddenly a shuriken whizzed inside the dome, startling Sakura. Haku sped off into the direction of the shuriken, causing it to rebound back. It exited from another gap between two mirrors. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she caught a glint of a string tied across the mirror. Could that be...?

_Might as well take the chance!_

Sakura gathered chakra in her fist, sprinting towards the mirror the shuriken had looped around. As expected, Haku appeared in front of her, casting several senbon flying towards her. She cried out as the sharp edges of the senbon pierced through her flesh and sent a searing pain that made her limbs stiffen. She did not stop to inspect her wounds, however - she leaped into the air just as Haku did a roundhouse kick, then smashed a mirror with her chakra-laced fist.

At the same, bright hot flames began to envelop the icy mirror. The impact of Sakura's punch combined with Sasuke's flames created a big crack, shattering the mirror into pieces.

"Cha!" yelled Sakura, grinning at the empty space that stood where the mirror once was. She could see Sasuke several feet away, panting.

"Time to get -" the kunoichi widened her eyes. "Sasuke, behind you!"

Haku had appeared, performing a kick to the lone Uchiha's back that sent him flying into the dome. Sakura caught the boy, wincing as she slid back to accomodate Sasuke.

"Crap - you're not supposed to -" the pinkette failed to complete her sentence. Sasuke stared at her for a second in confusion before spinning back to find that the gap where the mirror had broken was replaced with a new mirror.

"Damn..." mutterred Sasuke. "I -"

"Sasuke, I'm going to say this quickly before Haku attacks again," interrupted Sakura, turning her back on Sasuke so that they were back-to-back. "Haku's using his bloodline limit to allow him to move at a tremendously fast speed. That way, he can attack us faster than we can react. He's beginning to slow down though, I can feel it. The jutsu's taking a big toll on his stamina."

Sasuke nodded, glancing from mirror to mirror in anticipation.

A sudden idea struck Sakura.

"Uch- Sasuke," she muttered.

"Yeah?"

"Try and activate your Sharingan..."

"My shari-" His eyes glinted in understanding._ Of course. If I had the Sharingan, this would be much easier... but just how do I activate it, exactly..._

Without warning, Sakura made several shadow clones.

_Shadow Replication Jutsu? I never knew Sakura was capable of that..._

Sakura smirked. "Come on. You have a brother to kill, remember? Can't fail here, now can you..."

Sasuke's onyx eyes widened in surprise, but quickly narrowed in determination. _That's right. I can't lose here... I still need to beat you... _his eyes turned crimson red. One tomoe appeared in each eye.

_Itachi._

* * *

Naruto sped along the path that would take him to the bridge. He knew for certain that Zabuza would be there - especially after two of Gato's henchmen had arrived at Tazuna's house. He increased his speed in excitement.

_I'm gonna get my chance to defeat Zabuza once and for all!_

* * *

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Zabuza had continued their battle. The jounin frowned under his navy blue mask. He could not keep up with Zabuza's newfound abilities, especially with Tazuna to protect. He was also growing steadily worried for Sasuke and Sakura. The dome still continued to encase the two, and it did not seem to be crumbling anytime soon. Could those two have already - ?

No. He simply couldn't consider it.

Kakashi did a backflip, parrying a kunai sent towards Tazuna's direction.

* * *

Sakura and her clones charged towards each mirror, yelling as they approached. Haku sent senbons flying; they hit - and missed - all of the Sakuras but one, who fell in a heap on the ground. Several senbon, which passed through Sakura's clones, hit the ground instead. The real Sakura grunted as she picked herself up with much effort. She knew she had very little stamina, especially with her 12 year old body. She felt like she would collapse anytime soon.

_Damn... I failed... if only I could just hit that mirror... I wasted too much chakra earlier on those scalpels... _

Sakura fell to the ground with a thud once again.

_I think I'm losing consciousness..._

Sasuke's eyes widened in realisation. "Genjutsu..." he whispered, observing as the other Sakuras disappeared. He immediately brought his attention to the real Sakura. Thankfully, she still seemed to be breathing. He had to end this quickly, otherwise... he did not want to imagine it. He clenched his fists.

Haku, who had noticed the boy's sudden change in demeanour, grabbed a handful of senbon. Exerting nearly all the chakra he had left, Haku sent waves after waves of senbon at the Uchiha, not pausing once. Sasuke retaliated equally with kunai of his own, managing to block most of the senbon. Many, however, hit his back and sides. Before he could catch his breath, a hard punch sent him slamming against the icy surface of the mirror.

"Sasuke!" It was Naruto, bright orange jumper and all. He seemed to have magically appeared inside the dome of ice, grinning. For a moment, he gaped at the pinkette lying on the ground. "W-what happened to -!"

"There's no time to explain," panted Sasuke, wiping sweat off his brow. His limbs were twitching from the searing pain. "Naruto, just do what you can..."

"Shadow Clone Technique!" yelled Naruto.

"Damn, Naruto, don't -!"

It was too late. Several Narutos approached the reflections of Haku, only to be eliminated by another barrage of senbon from Haku. Sasuke, already worn out, was hit multiple times all over. Naruto winced in pain, gasping as several senbon hit his upper back. He glared at the masked boy.

"That won't stop me!" yelled Naruto, repeating the handseal for the shadow clone jutsu. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Again, Naruto's attack failed. But before Naruto could be hit by any senbon, a dark figure moved in front of him - Sasuke. The Uchiha stood protectively in front of the loudmouth.

"Sasuke.." Naruto stared at Sasuke. "W-why..."

The lone survivor of the Uchiha clan gave a raspy chuckle. "I... don't know..."

_Thud. _Sasuke had slumped to the ground, unable to withstand any more senbon. Naruto widened his eyes. "Sasuke! Sasuke! You all right?"

"Naruto... don't die..."

"SASUKE!"

There was no answer.

Slightly panicked, Naruto turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan!" he yelled.

Again, he was greeted with silence.

"Is this the first time you've seen friends die?" said Haku solemnly.

The blonde gaped at his teammates. Shock filled his veins, flashing through his eyes.

"Sakura-chan... Sasuke..." he whispered...

"That is the path of a ninja."

"Shut up..." uttered Naruto, staring at his fallen teammates.

"Sasuke... you... protected me..."

"Sakura-chan..."

Flashbacks of Sakura and Sasuke, who had treated him differently from the villagers who scorned at him, flashed through his mind. Ever since the creation of Team 7, Naruto had forgotten all about his loneliness... and now...

Glowing orange chakra emitted from Naruto. Steam seemed to fill the air, melting the surfaces of the mirrors surrounding the trio. The Kyuubi's chakra began to spiral around Naruto like a brilliant huge firework. Waves of heat emitted from it, warming the bitter cool air that had been brought by Haku's jutsu. Naruto's eyes turned a dazzling red, rivalling that of the Sharingan. His whiskers began to darken, as if dark slabs of charcoal black paint were smeared on his tan cheeks. His nails sharpened into that of claws.

"What terrible chakra..." whispered Haku, tensing in his spot.

* * *

Sakura awoke to find herself staring right into the face of a 12 year old Inner-Sakura.

"ACK!" She screamed, tumbling backwards. She rubbed her eyes - and stared at herself. She was back in her 16 year old body.

"I-Inner Sakura...?" whispered Sakura, staring confusedly at the young Sakura across from her.

"Yep, that's me!" said Sakura boisterously, crossing her arms.

"W-where... are we...?" asked the pinkette hesitantly. She was in a vast meadow. Flowers that only bloomed in the springtime surrounded her, mixing in with the various hues of green that filled the ground. It was beautiful.

"In your mind." replied Inner Sakura as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Wow," muttered Sakura sarcastically, "Never knew my mind was so... flowery."

Inner Sakura laughed. "Well, I guess that's what you envision your mind to be like, then. Anyway..." the young girl frowned. "You needa get back, Sakura!"

"G-get back?"

"Yeah, you heard me! Sasuke-kun and Naruto **needs** you in there!"

"Ugh," groaned Sakura, furrowing her eyebrows. "I can't believe I just fell there! I'm just as useless as ever! In fact I don't even know why Tsunade chose me-"

_SLAP! _Sakura's cheek stung. Inner Sakura had slapped her.

"Y-you just slapped me!" spluttered the kunoichi in mild shock.

"Yeah, because you were starting to pity yourself and it was stupid," scoffed Inner Sakura. "Come _on,_ Sakura! You're a big girl! You kick butt, you just haven't done it yet, but you're about to! And besides, Tsunade chose you because she had faith in you! She knew you were right for the task! So stop sulking and go help Sasuke-kun and Naruto! Sasuke-kun's nearly dead and Naruto's going beserk! His chakra is all orange and his eyes are red and -"

"What!" yelled Sakura, standing up suddenly. "The Kyuubi! Oh no... I have to stop him!" She glanced at Inner Sakura. "...Thanks."

"No problem!"

* * *

When Sakura came to, large shards of ice lay on the ground around her and Sasuke. Strangely enough, she could not feel the presence of the Kyuubi.

"Na-" she quickly stopped. Naruto and Haku stood face to face - Haku's mask was gone. They seemed to be... talking?

Sakura laid still for a moment, listening in on Naruto and Haku's conversation.

"He said," muttered Haku, "'Kid, do you want to be needed by someone? Can you give everything to me?' And... and then, when I had said yes... he patted me on the head kindly and lead me to his abode. I felt.. needed. I was so, so happy..."

Haku then began to whisper in a voice so low that Sakura had to send chakra to her ears to hear anything, "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san. I'm sorry I could not become the tool you wished for me to be. I have failed you as your weapon."

"Naruto-kun, please kill me."

Sakura's eyes widened, her green orbs glinting with shock. _I don't understand... Haku... why would he say such a thing?_

"I refuse to believe that stupid story!" yelled Naruto, backing away from Haku in surpressed anger and shock. "Weapon... you call someone like him an important person?... You're okay with that?"

_N-naruto.._

_".._What's wrong with that? Zabuza had hopes for me. He _needed _me. And now that I'm no longer of any use to him..."

"No." interrupted Sakura, standing up while she used her hands as support. Her knees began to shake in protest but she ignored it. "That's where you're wrong, Haku."

"Sa-Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto in surprise.

"Zabuza might say you're just his weapon, his tool... but he _still _needs you. You're all he has. Don't you see? Those years you two have shared together..." Sakura chuckled weakly.

Haku's black eyes met Sakura's determined emerald ones.

"You're right. It seems like I'm not going to die.. just yet."

He performed several hand seals, and vanished.

Naruto, still gaping from Haku's words earlier, took a few seconds to process what had just happened. He shook his head, frowning.

"What the…" he muttered.

Sakura glanced from Sasuke, who was lying motionless on the ground, to the area of the bridge where Kakashi and Zabuza occupied. Kakashi was dashing towards Zabuza, fists lowered near the ground. There was a sort of light enveloping his hand… what was it…?

"Oh!" gasped Sakura, her hand covering her mouth. "The Chidori!"

This caught Naruto's attention. "What?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He glanced from Sakura to Kakashi-sensei – and gasped.

Zabuza was being restrained by several burly dogs, all of which Sakura had seen before while working with Tsunade. It would only be seconds before the impact of Kakashi's lightning fist would impale Zabuza, leaving him with a deadly wound.

"Wait – where's Haku!" yelled Naruto, darting from left to right in an attempt to look for the speedy, lean boy. He was nowhere to be found.

"No way – he wouldn't-"

But Sakura was wrong. In a matter of seconds Haku had darted in front of Zabuza, arms raised in a protective, strong manner. Kakashi, already propelled by the momentum of his movement, rammed his fist into Haku's abdomen.

The kunoichi squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the blood and the pain. Temptation, however, forced her to reopen her eyes.

It was not a pretty sight. It was as if someone had taken a knife and cut out a hole from Haku's stomach, leaving a mess of dark crimson blood.

"Za..bu…za.." Haku breathed. He collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

With the distraction, Zabuza quickly leapt out of the way, regaining his freedom of movement. He didn't even bat an eyelash at the death of his loyal companion.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, swiftly picked up the cadaver of what was once a young, obedient boy, and laid it to rest near the edge of the bridge.

"Naruto, Sakura, stay out of this fight. I want you to take care of his body and Tazuna."

"But-!" yelled Naruto, clenching his fists at the death of someone who had been close to a rival, if not a friend.

Sakura bit her lip. "Let's go, Naruto," she muttered quietly.

The blonde stared at her for several moments. Something in his eyes clearly stated that he would rather die than come quietly, but Sakura was dead serious. She glared at him in return. The genin clenched and unclenched his fists. Finally, Naruto seemed to remember the gravity of the situation and sighed.

"Alright," he muttered, with just as much enthusiasm as a dead fly.

As the duo fought even more viciously, Naruto and Sakura dashed to Tazuna and Haku. The bridge builder, who had been watching upon the events with a frown the whole time, turned his gaze towards the pair of genin.

"You two fought well," he mumbled, gruffly.

Sakura nodded solemnly. Naruto, on the other hand, scoffed. "I was useless," he muttered as he stared at the corpse of Haku.

The pinkette frowned at her teammate, but wisely chose not to comment. Tazuna, who did the same, turned to Sakura.

"Is your teammate alright?" He asked, a note of worry in his voice. At the mention of 'teammate', Sakura glanced at Naruto. Then –

"Oh… Sasuke… trust me, he's stronger in spirit than you think. He'll be alright." The bridgebuilder nodded, now directing his attention towards the ongoing battle between Kakashi and Zabuza.

"It's them…" the old man growled, staring off somewhere into the distance.

"Who?" asked Sakura.

She saw them before he could answer her question – it was Gato and his minions.

"Now what do we have here?" Gato asked. His pitch-black sunglasses were glinting in the rays of sunlight that had begun to peek through the thick clouds. His voice was full of indifference, as if the battle that had unfolded on the bridge was nothing more than child's play.

Then the stout businessman's eyes fell upon Haku's bloody body. "Oh, why look at that. Karma has struck…" He grinned, his wide smile like that of a Cheshire Cat. Gato's wrist twitched from its earlier tribulation. "Well, that's what the rude boy gets for thinking he can harm me."

Several men who had assembled behind Gato chuckled, some nervously, others cruelly.

Zabuza, on the other hand, did not so much as frown at the mention of his slain partner. It was Zabuza's lack of emotion that finally seemed to make something snap in Naruto.

"That's all you can do?" the young orange-clad boy yelled, a hint of a growl present in his voice. "After all Haku did for you?"

"Haku was a tool to me... nothing more. I have no use for a tool that is -"

"Shut up!" Naruto yelled, cutting across the great swordsman as if he were a mere pest. "Haku cared about you! Your dreams were his dreams, and he died being unable to accomplish them! He would've done anything for you!" Naruto clenched his fists, staring resolutely at Zabuza. "You were more than a master to him... you were the family he never had! Do you even know how wonderful it feels to be cared by someone...! "

Sakura stared, eyes wide as she stared at the boy to her right. She could have sworn a tear had slid down his cheek... but any evidence of it was lost as he yelled, "TEME -!"

His yell was cut off by an unmistakeable sob that had erupted within Zabuza. Naruto was just as shocked as Sakura, who couldn't believe she didn't remember any of this the last time she had experienced it.

Gato and his men began howling with laughter. "Look!" yelled Gato, smirking. "The Great Zabuza, a Master Swordsman, crying over a pathetic boy!"

Naruto, who had taken a kunai from his pouch, threw it towards Zabuza and yelled, "Catch!"

Zabuza had caught the kunai in his mouth with surprising agility for a man that had just battled his hardest.

* * *

The next few minutes were bloody and painful to watch. Zabuza slashed through man after man in pursuit of Gato, his anger feeding him as he surged through the crowd. It was like a mighty gust of wind blew through thin brittle dominos that toppled over each other.

Zabuza finally reached Gato, who was trembling in fear at that point. Only a second passed in silence as their eyes met - and then Gato fell face flat on the stone ground of the bridge.

THe swordsman chuckled softly, his eyes resting on Haku. "Sorry, Haku... looks like I won't be able to go with you to heaven. Rather... I'll be accompanying this thing " - he kicked Gato - "in hell."

Everyone watched in an eerily peaceful silence as the dying man trudged towards Haku. He finally stumbled an extremely short distance away from the teenaged shinobi, his fatigued body lying in a peaceful position. Zabuza faced Haku, his battered hand finding a tidbit of strength left to brush a stray lock of hair from the young boy's face.

"Ha...ku..." he breathed, shutting his eyelids for the final time.

* * *

Sakura stared at the scene that had just unfolded before her. She smiled - a bittersweet smile that did not reach her eyes.

_Seems like it took me two times to finally realize how important this was... and how complex a person Naruto is, _she mused.

Some distance away, the young Uchiha had woken up. He grumbled groggily as his eyes adjusted to the scene in front of him.

"W-what.. happened...?" he muttered.

"Sasuke!" breathed Sakura, startled by Sasuke's sudden return to the situation at hand. Relief seemed to wash over her. It was finally over... and although she felt like kicking herself for the mistakes she made and the things she could have prevented, she was nonetheless content at last. Fatigue hit her like a wave just then, having been hidden earlier by the adrenaline from being in battle.

Naruto's head turned to see Sasuke, alive and well. "SASUKE!" he yelled, momentarily forgetting the tragic display of events.

"Sakura-chan, come on!" said Naruto. "Sasuke's awake!"

When he received no response, he turned around to find Tazuna supporting an unconcious Sakura.

* * *

That concludes chapter 10 of unwinding time! The next chapter will be posted ASAP!

EDIT 8/25/11: Chapter 10 continued has been merged with Chapter 10: Team Seven


	12. Unraveling the Truth

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Unraveling the Truth**

* * *

Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke sat around Sakura's futon. The silver-haired shinobi absentmindedly flipped through another page of his erotic books, glancing at his female student every now and then, while his other students twirled some kunai – or more like Sasuke did. Naruto was staring at Sakura. Her medium-length pink strands splayed around her like a firework as she breathed in and out, in and out.

Naruto frowned at the sight of Sakura being unconscious. Anyone who knew Naruto could tell that signs of impatience were beginning to seep in. _This is Sakura-chan we're talking about, _he told himself. _She needs rest! _But of course, having never had the experience of having a dangerously low shortage of chakra, he was unable to follow through with his own orders for long. He finally gave in to his childishness, yelling, "SAKURA, CAN YOU HEAR ME? WAKE UP!"

Sasuke dropped his kunai in alarm, and scowling, hastened to pick it up. Meanwhile, the jounin rolled his eyes, resting his book on his lap. He glanced at his hyperactive student.

"Naruto, she's fatigued from too much chakra depletion. Unlike you, she doesn't have an endless supply of stamina." He paused, his eyes briefly roaming to the young boy's stomach meaningfully before continuing, "Sakura probably won't wake up until later tonight, which means we'll have to delay our departure for tomorrow. The villagers want to see us off."

Naruto continued to frown, although he went silent. Meanwhile, a thought ran through Kakashi's mind. The jounin was well-aware of Sakura's low amounts of chakra, which her good chakra control and surprisingly talented skills made up for. The question was, why was Sakura _this _chakra depleted? Not even her low chakra levels could explain that. Not to mention, the battle hadn't gone on for very long - only two hours at most. Unless... she had been using techniques way too advanced for her caliber.

But, Kakashi reasoned, that didn't seem likely for Sakura. Judging by how the battle went, Sakura and the others were pretty successful. But how could she have excecuted techniques beyond her level if she had never practiced them before? Obviously one had to learn and practice a technique before using it. And if she had, she certainly wouldn't have been as tired as she was now.

The silver-haired man sighed. He would bring this up to the Hokage, like he had decided to with his earlier information. For now, he would just concentrate on getting these genin back home.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto's voice broke through the silence.

"Hmm?"

"I think Sakura's… awake." Indeed, Kakashi noticed a slight flare in Sakura's once-dormant chakra. The kunoichi stirred, groaning as she did so. Sasuke placed his kunai back into his pouch. "It's four in the afternoon," the Uchiha commented, a slight tone of surprise lacing his voice.

"You're right," said Kakashi. He raised an eyebrow at the young girl. Well, she had certainly recovered faster than he had expected.

"What… happened?" murmured Sakura, her eyes half-open. She stifled a yawn. A few seconds later, she widened her eyes to find Naruto staring right in front of her, barely inches away.

"Naruto?" she mumbled, widening her eyes for a few seconds. A second or two passed in silence before she shook her head briefly and realized how close in proximity he was. Naruto gulped as he could literally see a vein pop in Sakura's forehead.

"Back off please," Sakura growled firmly. It was all she could do not to shove him away like she would have done in the future.

"Aww," whined Naruto with a grin that did not match the tone of his voice at all, "I just wanted to see if you were alright!"

"Right," the young kunoichi mumbled, rolling her eyes. She masked a scowl before shifting to face Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, what happened?"

"Shortly after you fainted, Inari and the villagers came just in time to deal with Gato's men. That, and combined with the fact that Gato had fallen, effectively scared them away," The ex-ANBU supplied helpfully.

"That's right! Inari was brave for once!" Naruto added.

Sakura smiled in relief. So things had turned out fine, after all. "Sorry about… well, you know," she mumbled, blushing a little for being so… _weak. _She inwardly winced at the word.

"Nah, don't sweat it, Sakura-chan!" The blonde boy chirped happily. "You were awesome!"

"Yes, Naruto has a point," said Kakashi amusedly. "You did well, Sakura. Of course, it would be wiser not to attempt any techniques that are too advanced for you in the future, no? We wouldn't want you fainting on us."

"Ehehe…" Sakura smiled awkwardly; she knew better than all of them how puzzling it must have been for her to drop unconscious from chakra depletion after something like that. After a few moments of silence, Kakashi remarked, "Well Sakura, I was thinking of leaving tomorrow morning, seeing as you still must be quite –"

"No!" Sakura burst out suddenly. When her sensei raised an eyebrow, she blushed. "Well, I really don't want to be a burden anymore. Let's go now," she stated truthfully.

Kakashi nodded, creasing his eyes as he smiled under his mask. "All right then, in that case, I'll go and find Tsunami-san and -"

"Oh, Sakura-san! You're awake!" It was Tsunami, who had tentatively ventured towards the living room to check on Sakura's well being.

"Hello Tsunami-san," greeted Sakura, smiling. "Sorry for taking up your living room longer than expected."

"Don't worry about it," retorted Tsunami, "after all, you were all so amazing today."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "It was nothing, really."

"If you say so." Then, once she had finished rolling her eyes, Tsunami added, "Would you like some food, Sakura? You must be starving!"

"I'm fine, Tsunami-san – in fact, we really should be going," assured the kunoichi.

When the young woman began to protest, Kakashi agreed. "Sakura's right, Tsunami-san. There's something important back home we need to participate in." He gave her a look, which the young mother returned knowingly. Sakura, who had not missed out on their interaction, widened her eyes.

_That's right… the Chuunin exams are coming up!_

"Alright," Tsunami agreed. "I'll go and find everyone – we'd never forgive ourselves if we missed out on your goodbyes. Meet us at the front gates in half an hour."

"Aa, thank you very much, Tsunami-san."

"Not at all, Hatake-san. Well, I'll be off." The deep blue-haired woman exited the room like a receding wave.

Meanwhile, Hatake Kakashi stared at his three students, all of whom were lost deep in thought – although about what, Kakashi didn't know. He smiled under his mask.

"I'm proud of all of you," he stated. He eyed his three students one by one. Naruto, grinning at him like a happy-go-lucky idiot. Sasuke, who said nothing, but smirked – was that a hint of a smile he saw? – and Sakura, who stared him, open mouthed. The jounin chuckled. "Why are you staring at me like that, Sakura? I meant you as well."

For the first time in a long time, Sakura really felt like a part of the one-and-only original Team Seven.

* * *

The entire population of the little village of the Land of Waves huddled around the entrance of Tazuna's house. Streams of confetti littered the ground. Among the hubbub, Naruto faced Inari.

"Hey, Inari," said Naruto. He donned his cheeky fox-like grin as always, although, was it just Sakura's imagination, or was there a faint trace of a sad smile mixed with his normally vibrant expression?

"Yeah?" Inari replied, with an expression similar to that of Naruto's. His voice was gruff, and he looked as if he was about to cry.

"I take back what I said earlier. You know, it's okay to cry." Sakura raised an eyebrow, she said nothing – merely gazing upon the two boys' interaction with nothing but feelings of relief and contentment.

"I don't want to," Inari retorted stubbornly. Then, smirking a little, he mocked, "Naruto-nii-san, it's okay to cry."

"Tch!" Naruto scoffed. "I don't need to either!"

And then the two burst into tearful laughter – the kind where you're simply exhausted and overwhelmed and full of grief yet you feel like howling in joy. Sasuke, who had been silent the entire time, muttered "Dobe," while Sakura looked on, nostalgia filling her senses. She could feel herself tearing up, too. She quickly wiped away the moisture in her eyes.

"Idiots," she choked, smiling softly.

"Everyone," rang Kakashi's voice throughout the crowd. Everyone stopped chattering to look at the jounin and his three students. "It has been a pleasure to meet you all as well as experience first-hand all of your hardwork." he gestured towards the now-complete bridge, glistening under the sun in all its glory. "I say this on behalf of Konoha: We will always welcome you, should you need help, in the future." As he finished, the entire village burst into hearty cheers.

Gradually, the cheering died down. "Well, I guess we'll take our leave here. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura – let's go."

* * *

"It's a good thing summer is coming soon," stated Kakashi as the four stepped out of Wave's territory. They had been walking in a sort of peaceful silence, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts – even Naruto. "The sun hasn't fully disappeared yet and we're already nearing Konoha."

Despite the fact that no one was looking her way, Sakura nodded. The breeze was quite refreshing. It sent the folds of her skirt billowing across her legs. As a shinobi, peaceful moments like these were rare.

~  
"_Sasuke-kun, you were amazing today," Sakura gushed, her bright emerald eyes gleaming in admiration. She didn't mind that Sasuke merely 'hned' in reply; the fact that he was acknowledging her words filled her heart with a giddy bubbliness.  
~__  
_

"Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, catching his sensei's attention. "What are they gonna name the bridge?" He was talking in a cheerful, lighthearted way, but Sakura, who had been walking right next to the blonde, didn't need to be 16 years old to know that there was more to his thoughts than he was letting on.

_~  
The girl and boy genin fell into a silence. Sakura stole several glances at the boy walking alongside her. "Good question. What do you think they would name the bridge, Naruto?" she overheard Kakashi asking Naruto.  
~__  
_

If Kakashi had noticed the hints of melancholy in Naruto's voice, he did not show it. "That's an interesting thing to ask. What do _you _thinkthey would name it?"

~  
"_Well, no one in their right mind would name a bridge after Naruto," said Sasuke. Calmness seemed to radiate around him no matter what he seemed to be saying, making him look incredibly handsome for a boy of only 12 years old.  
~__  
_

"Certainly not after Naruto, of course," interjected Sasuke. He smirked, as if he found his own insult quite amusing. Sakura rolled her eyes.

~  
"_TEME! How would you know?" said the loudmouth, pouting in an incredibly childish manner that Sakura found quite annoying.  
~__  
_

"HEY!" yelled Naruto, a vein popping in his forehead. He clenched his fists angrily. "How would you know! Take that back!" But even as he glared menacingly at the Uchiha, a hint of a smile was present.

~  
"_NA-RU-TO! Just shut up! Stop doubting Sasuke-kun!" Sakura barked, irritation lacing her voice.  
~_

"Naruto's right, Sasuke… kun," Sakura chimed in, "Who knows – they might've even called it the Great Ramen Bridge."

~  
"_Awww, Sakura-chan…." the orange-clad adolescent whined.  
~__  
_

"Yeah! Exactly! See, Sasuke-teme? Sakura-chan agrees with me!"

"Hn."

"Yup." She glanced towards the nine-tails container, "but in all honesty, Naruto, I wouldn't be surprised if the bridge was really named after you. In fact, I'd bet my money on it."

_~  
The self-proclaimed future Hokage wilted like a dead flower, looking quite crestfallen. Nonetheless, he quickly composed himself and continued forward, smiling at the rosette in front of him.  
~__  
_

"Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto gleefully. Sasuke scoffed, while Kakashi simply raised an eyebrow, mildly curious. For a moment, the two held eye contact. Sakura smiled, and then turned away, jogging to catch up with Sasuke.

Naruto stood still for a second or two, shocked, but then recovered and grinned cheekily, running towards Sakura so that they walked in a row, Sakura situated at the middle.

'_So they're finally beginning to grasp teamwork,' _mused Kakashi as he trailed behind his students.

"Hey! I see the village gates!" hollered Naruto, startling several birds that had been perched upon several lofty branches.

Indeed, there, right before them, were the grand gates that would take them into Konoha. Unlike its worn-down future self, the gates were freshly painted. Faint strips of the last few remaining rays of sunlight highlighted the navy blue words, "Land of Fire."

After nodding curtly to Kotetsu and another chunin Kakashi couldn't recognize, the genin teacher addressed his students: "Alright, you guys. This is been quite the adventure. I want you all to head home immediately and get a good night's sleep. I'll be busy for the next few days, so take it easy for a while."

Satisfied with the nods from Sasuke and Sakura (and sighing as Naruto complained about how boring it would be), Kakashi continued, "Well then, I'll go and submit our mission report to the Lord Hokage. I'll see you three sometime later." He formed a quick seal and poofed out of sight.

Sakura frowned at the rapidly disappearing clouds of smoke. She had totally forgotten that Kakashi must've figured her out already. She needed to consult Tsunade-sama. Muttering a quick goodbye to Naruto and nodding at Sasuke, Sakura quickly walked in the direction of her home. She greeted her mother, who immediately crooned over her and told her how worried she was. That, however, did not stop her from muttering, "Later, Mom. I'm really tired tonight… sorry," and exiting the kitchen to retreat to her 'room'.

* * *

Sakura tossed her ninja pouch and other gear onto her bed and gently opened her window to step out into the balcony. By the time Sakura had reached home, the sun had been completely out of sight and now that she was finally in her room she could see the stars twinkling from a distance. It was hard to believe the sky she was staring at wasn't the same sky she had laid her eyes upon what seemed like months and months ago from the future.

The pinkette retreated into her room to retrieve the simple, ordinary-looking black scroll and a brush she had found on her table.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_I just came back from the Land of the Waves. I did not alter much; the bridge will still probably be named after Naruto, and unfortunately Haku and Zabuza are still dead. The Chunin exams are about to begin, I can tell from the expression on Kakashi's face._

_Speaking of Kakashi…. as I write this, he's probably spilling everything to the Sandaime right now. _Sakura bit her lip._ I guess all I can do now is hope that I won't be interrogated or something like that before the Chunin exams start…_

_Anyway, enough about me. How are things going over there? I hope everything is alright._

_Miss you lots,_

_Sakura._

Satisfied at the words she had scrawled onto the parchment, she rolled up scroll neatly and began to change into her nightgown. Might as well take Kakashi's suggestion and sleep early…

Sakura paused. _Kakashi-sensei. _'_I really wonder what the old man and sensei are talking about…'_

And instantly, like Naruto and how he would never fail to choose ramen for breakfast, lunch , and dinner, an idea popped into the young kunoichi's mind.

An idea which, if went wrong, might mean drastic results – but something that Sakura was willing to try. Nevermind the fact that Tsunade was going to kill her if she knew. She felt it in her bones. This was something she needed to do.

She took off her nightgown and put on her mesh top, black gloves, and black boots. After surveying her closet for several minutes, she found a dark maroon ninja cloak that had been her great-grandfather's. It had been crammed at the back of the closet, as if 12-year old Sakura deemed it too unfashionable for her tastes.

Gingerly, she draped the cloak over herself, and put the hood on.

Excellent. Now her conspicuous pink hair would be hidden and she would have something to shield her against the cold.

She leaped from her balcony with admirable agility, disappearing into the night.

* * *

"Ah, Kakashi-san," the Hokage greeted the jounin. "I've been expecting you. Here, take a seat. I got your message from Pakkun."

"Yes, of course," replied said person, handing the elderly man before him his detailed mission report before taking a seat. "What would you like to go over?"

"Well, I'm already aware the mission was far more complicated than a simple escort mission. But there's no need for you to tell me about that, as it's classified and I'm sure I'll understand it all once I read the report. No, I want know about the students – Naruto, the Uchiha boy, and according to you, an interesting little event that occurred between you and the girl."

"Ah, yes," replied Kakashi. "Sasuke is indeed an Uchiha. He's quite excellent in all areas – in fact, had… _that _not occurred, he might have even surpassed his brother."

"Could have even surpassed Itachi, eh… well, I'm not surprised. Fugaku and Mikoto were always extremely skillful. The son of those two would definitely be just as talented." The Hokage took off his broad-brimmed hat and laid it down on his lap. He leaned back in his chair, a gesture for the silver-haired shinobi to continue.

"Yes. But, - and this is what really surprised me, Hokage-sama – Sasuke wasn't the only one who dealt with the situation in Wave well. In fact, the other two – Sakura and Naruto – performed excellently, if I may say so. Although Naruto can seem quite clumsy and dim-witted, I wouldn't hesitate to say that the two are on par with Sasuke, if not better."

"Really now… Well, that certainly is quite interesting. But you must understand that I cannot help but doubt you, even if it is slightly. As you know I played a part in sorting this generation's teams. I made each team generally equal in strength and capability. And I clearly remember that Sakura and Naruto were rather… well, lacking in ability. So how did you come to make that assessment?"

"Sakura demonstrated abilities I was not aware of in her report. In fact, she used skills similar to that of the Great Sannin, Tsunade. Although she didn't seem to be quite capable of executing them, she was able to deal some damage in the overall fight. At first I was doubtful – how could Sakura have known the Great Lady Tsunade? But then… I, ah, used my eye," he gestured towards his left eye, hidden by his mask, "and confirmed that indeed, Sakura had something to do with Tsunade.

The same goes for Naruto. He unleashed the Kyuubi's power during our main battle, and unfortunately I couldn't do much about it, as he was trapped inside a kekkai genkai and I was occupied with Zabuza at the time. I admit, I was worried – yet he seemed to have handled the situation quite well. Who would have known… Minato's son is truly -"

The Hokage raised a hand, and Kakashi immediately stopped, gazing questioningly at the Hokage. The Sandaime smiled knowingly towards a window to his left, which had been opened very slightly to allow the breeze to pass through. Kakashi could have sworn he heard a very sharp intake of breath that belonged to a young girl.

Hatake Kakashi widened his eyes. No way… this chakra signature… how could he have not noticed it?

"Sakura-san, come in. I daresay it is quite cold out there. Why don't you join in on the conversation?"

A creak of the window, and Kakashi's very own student, Sakura Haruno, came stumbling in. She was just as shocked as Kakashi was, who was berating himself for not having sensed her chakra signature earlier.

"Sakura…"

"Aa… Good evening, Hokage-sama, Kakashi-sensei…"

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! It's been such a long time since I've updated! I honestly don't have an excuse this time except for downright laziness. :P  
And I'm really sorry that the chunin exam STILL hasn't begun! It will soon, promise! I just want to clear some things up and write all the little important parts I want to write. :)  
Will update soon!  
-Reveri


	13. Let the Exams Begin!

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

* * *

**Chapter 12: Let the Exams Begin!**

* * *

Sakura bounded rooftop over rooftop, adrenaline coursing through her veins from a combination of nervousness and excitement. She had been careful to avoid the watchful eyes of Konoha's nightly patrol, but it seemed like it was unneeded. Somehow, they didn't notice her very much. But even though the genin was armed with this new-found confidence, she still kept to alleyways whenever someone passed by, or masked her chakra (which had been quite the feat, seeing as Sakura's chakra reserves weren't unlimited like Naruto's and her 12 year old body was no better).

_Better safe than sorry, _the kunoichi mused.

_**Hurry up! We're missing out on important talk here! **_

_Oh shut up. You wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of an interrogation from ANBU when they find you've been sneaking around at night to try and eavesdrop on the Hokage. _

Sakura arrived, hiding behind a building right across from the Hokage building. To effectively listen in on the conversation, she would have to stand right outside the Hokage's window. Unfortunately, the tiles which she would be standing on were really sensitive, so if she attempted to jump onto them, there would definitely be some sort of sound. She brought her vision down to the main entrance. Security wasn't tight – only two chunin were placed outside of the main door. She frowned, reminiscing of her own timeframe. Just before Pain invaded Konoha, eight to ten ANBU had been stationed every night - and that was only at the front door, too! She would have to do something about this lack of security if she was going to succeed in her plans.

_Oh well. All the better for me to sneak in, I guess._

The kunoichi waited.

And waited.

And finally –

"Hey, I think our shift is over. Wanna go and fetch the new chunin recruits?"

"Aight, Gorou. I'll be back in a bit."

Sakura smirked. New chunin recruits… this would be easy.

* * *

"Ah, Mishio, you're back. That was fast," the ginger-haired man, Gorou, remarked.

"Yeah, turns out the chunins were on their way already," Mishio replied. Behind him stood the two chunin. Their faces were partially hidden by the shadow of the Hokage building.

Not bothering to spare a glance at the chunin recruits, Gorou nodded and left. "Night, Mishio."

"Night."

Gorou stalked off, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Night patrol was boring work, but the pay was well worth it. He grinned cheekily as he thought of Hana Inuzuka. Maybe this new job would finally make her realize how awesome he was.

_Thud. _

Gorou span around. "Who's there?" he called, staring back at the Hokage tower twenty or so meters away. He could've sworn he heard someone land on the Sandaime's roof. He stared at the roof for a few seconds and saw a flicker of a pair of eyes. He rubbed his eyes vigorously and looked again. He saw nothing. The chunin sighed.

"Gorou, stop imagining things," he muttered to himself, shaking his head.

No sooner than ten minutes later did he stop again at his front door, this time looking mildly concerned. "You know, when I looked back earlier, the new chunin recruits weren't there…" he mumbled to himself.

"Oh well. I'll ask Mishio about it tomorrow."

* * *

As soon as Gorou departed, Sakura released him from her genjutsu. Now just to wait until he was out of sight, and then she would jump. But as soon as she finished her thought, she could hear a new set of footsteps – no doubt the others had arrived. She frowned. She had to jump now otherwise it would be too late.

_Thud. _

"Who's there?"

"Crap," Sakura breathed. He'd definitely see her now… unless…

Her hands deftly formed several hand signs, biting her lip as she forced chakra to spread evenly throughout her body. Using so much of her chakra reserves began to make Sakura sweat.

_Damn it, turn around already…_

"Gorou, stop imagining thing_s." _The chunin proceeded to leave the area, humming some sort of tune as he left.

"Whew," Sakura breathed heavily. The 'Invisibility' Technique, as Tsunade-sama had dubbed it, wasn't something Sakura hadn't had to resort to in quite a while. Like other techniques of its nature, it required good chakra control and used up a lot of chakra to boot. By spreading a dense amount special type of chakra – like the kind used to mask chakra signatures – throughout her body until it was practically visible, the user was allowed to blend in with his or her surroundings for a period of time.

Normally only a decent portion of her chakra would be drained; however, Sakura felt almost as exhausted as she had felt during her fight this morning. And she was considered lucky, too – had her chakra control been any worse, the technique would've failed.

_Well, it was the only choice I had – genjutsu was out of the question, he was too far away for eye contact and I wouldn't have had time. _

_**We can do this! Cha!**_

"It's simple, really," came a voice. Sakura's breathing hitched as she tried to stifle her heavy panting. "Just guard the door, and if you notice anything strange, or you are attacked, one of you just simply perform this seal in order to notify the others inside."

"Thanks, Mishio-san," one of the chunin – a female from the sound of it - replied.

"Noa's right," the other added. After a pause, he continued, "Oh, where's Gorou-san, by the way?"

"Gorou? Hmm… that's odd. I wonder where he went." A chuckle could be heard. "Who knows, probably just left out of boredom. Not like anyone around here would be trying to invade the Hokage building or anything."

The two chunin joined in on the laughter, while Sakura gritted her teeth in annoyance. How dare they call themselves chunin? It was things like this that ended up in Konoha's downfall.

Speaking of which…

Sakura stealthily darted towards the windows, and sure enough, Kakashi was talking with the Hokage. She could hear their voices faintly if she tried, but unfortunately she could not catch on to everything they were saying.

_Time to use one of Kankuro's tricks, _the pinkette mused. She extended her left hand slowly towards the window closest to her, smirking in satisfaction as chakra threads began to protrude out of her fingertips. They were relatively invisible, unless you looked at it from a specific angle. Millimeter by millimeter, she pushed the window open, leaving a sliver of a crack. She began to pant – any more chakra and she didn't think she could remain conscious.

"But you must understand that I cannot help but doubt you, even if it is slightly." The Sandaime spoke. "As you know I played a part in sorting this generation's teams. I made each team generally equal in strength and capability. And I clearly remember that Sakura and Naruto were rather… well, lacking in ability. So how did you come to make that assessment?"

"Sakura demonstrated abilities I was not aware of in her report. In fact, she used skills similar to that of the Great Sannin, Tsunade. Although she didn't seem to be quite capable of executing them, she was able to deal some damage in the overall fight. At first I was doubtful – how could Sakura have known the Great Lady Tsunade? But then… I, ah, used my eye, and confirmed that indeed, Sakura had something to do with Tsunade."

_**Now that was an idiot move. **_

_Shut up, I don't need two voices reminding me of that. _

"The same goes for Naruto. He unleashed the Kyuubi's power during our main battle, and unfortunately I couldn't do much about it, as he was trapped inside a kekkai genkai and I was occupied with Zabuza at the time. I admit, I was worried – yet he seemed to have handled the situation quite well. Who would have known… Minato's son..."

_Minato… Namikaze Minato..._

The jounin continued, "As the Yondaime's son, he's truly, truly,-"

_Yondaime, … NARUTO'S FATHER?_

Sakura could feel her own chakra begin to flare as she gasped in shock. She silently cursed herself yet again that night, hoping the two men hadn't heard her.

_Wait a minute. No one's talking… _

"Sakura-san, come in. I daresay it is quite cold out there. Why don't you join in on the conversation?"

The kunoichi gulped. She felt like a young schoolgirl again being scolded for doing something childish with Ino.

Obediently, she opened the window and stepped inside. Heat rose to her cheeks in embarrassment.

"Sakura…" Kakashi stared, his lone eye widening at the sight of his very own student. He was unable to say anything else. Funnily enough, the Hokage was smiling upon Sakura, a twinkle in his eye.

"Aa… good evening, Hokage-sama, Kakashi-sensei…"

"Good evening to you too, Sakura. How nice of you to visit us." Turning to Kakashi, he said: "Well, it seems like you've proven yourself right, Kakashi. Sakura is quite excellent."

Kakashi nodded, and then a heavy silence descended on the three – or rather, Kakashi and Sakura. The Sandaime seemed to be staring at the two in amusement. His withered old eyes rested upon Sakura, wrapped up in a familiar looking old cloak.

"Sakura, that's quite the interesting cloak you've got there." The Hokage asked.

"E-eh? This? It's my grandfather's…"

"I see. Whose was it before that?"

"My great great grandfather, who was the last person in my family to be a shinobi before me." She paused. "Hokage-sama, I don't understand, why are you –"

"Aah, so you do know. Good good. I trust then, you know how the cloak works?"

"How it works?"

"Yes, Sakura. Your cloak… to put it simply, it is a cloak that shield your chakra signature."

"My what?" gasped Sakura, staring at her cloak in incredulity.

_So that's why I didn't notice her chakra before… _the silver haired jounin mused.

"Yes. Your chakra signature. It doesn't _completely _hide it of course – no material in this world is capable of doing that, but this cloak of yours is deadly useful. Haruno Takuma was very fond of it – he would be glad to see that it finally landed in the hands of a shinobi."

"I… I never knew…" Sakura mumbled.

"Of course, your grandfather unfortunately did not get the chance to tell you this, as you weren't a ninja yet when he passed. So I will tell you now.

This cloak is made of a material called vicuña, which comes from an animal you will find only occasionally in the richest parts of the Land of Cotton. Of course it is usually used as a luxurious fabric for the rich. But ninja have found that it manages to hide chakra in the strangest ways. It blurs your chakra signature and allows it to blend in with your surroundings, as well as temporarily weaken the body's natural chakra emitters. In fact I assume that there are less than 10 cloaks of this kind that are known to exist."

"Less than 10…"

"Indeed. Anyway, it essentially makes you "unnoticed". If you walk in a crowded street, no one will realize you are there. However, there is one catch. Two, actually. First, certain kekkai genkai that deal with the eye, such as the Byakugan or the Sharingan, can easily see through this cloak. Second, the moment someone assumes someone is there, they will be able to sense you. For example, if you were eavesdropping on someone," the corners of his mouth titled upward as Sakura looked flustered, "and one noticed the window was left open, or a strange noise occurred, but said person did not suspect anything, he or she still wouldn't be able to see you. But if that person specifically suspected that someone was eavesdropping on them, you would be easily spotted."

"How is it possible for a mere cloak to do that?" asked Sakura, frowning at the Hokage's lengthy explanation.

"Yes, how is it exactly?" wondered Kakashi, looking awed at how easily the cloak had hidden Sakura's chakra.

"That is because this is not any ordinary cloak. Cloaks like these have dense amounts of chakra infused in them by their owners, assisting the material in doing so. It must be your great great grandfather's doing, Sakura."

Armed with this new information, Sakura shakily took off her cloak and examined every detail, thoroughly surprised that she had stuffed the cloak without a care for it in her closet for years and had never noticed this before.

"I can't believe it… after all this time… I never knew…"

"It's not your fault. After all, you are only a genin, so the opportunities you have to use this are vast and many."

Sakura nodded, although she still felt a growing sense of shame at her previous ignorance.

"Hokage-sama," said Sakura, turning to face the Sandaime. Her jaw was clenched, but she looked fierce and determined.

"Thank you for telling me about this."

"No problem at all. But Sakura, let me ask you this: why have you been eavesdropping on us?"

The kunoichi sighed, having expected him to pop the question any second now. "I know both you and Kakashi-sensei are wondering what in the world is going on with me. And I've admit, I know I'm much different from what I used to be. Well, I'll tell you everything. But first of all, I want to know how Kakashi-sensei found out so much about me, and what he meant by…" she paused. "his "eye-thing".

"I'm sure you know what my other eye contains, Sakura," replied the jounin.

"Yes, the Sharingan. What about it?"

"It's not only used for combat. It can, in a sense, read your most important thoughts."

_So my suspicions are officially confirmed. Kakashi definitely read my eye movements at Wave._

"My important thoughts?" Sakura asked, looking decently confused.

"Yes, I read your eye movements, which has its own language – just like sign language. And this is what I could understand: Tsunade, a mission, doing something in an 'opposite', or rather, 'counter-clockwise' way, and saving Sasuke. Care to explain any of it?"

"Ah!" _Of course I'll explain, Kakashi-sensei. But no one said I had to be specific. _"Yes, of course." She did not falter in the slightest as Hatake Kakashi activated his sharingan. "Tsunade-sama is my idol. I've read about her medical achievements in texts at the library. She helped me in a time of need - I was feeling weak, and useless. Yes, I was good at tests. But at actual spars? I could've been a mere civilian, but she taught me how to utilize my chakra control. I've never demonstrated these abilities in the Academy because I was far from capable of performing them at the time and I lacked practice in… well, everything really.

As for my mission? Well, it's not a _mission _as you would think of it. No one has ever been given anything like it. It's really something personal – to redeem myself for my previous actions when I was younger and to protect the ones I care about. Opposite and counter-clockwise… well, one of my greatest wishes is to turn back time so I can fix the mistakes I've made. But I know it isn't that easy, so I guess that's how I made my mission." _True, true, and true._

She paused.

"Well?" prompted the jounin before her.

"As for Sasuke…" she tried her best to blush, looking off to the side and twiddling her thumbs.

"I want to save him from his sadness. Because, well… you see, I've loved Sasuke Uchiha since I could talk. And it would really mean a lot to me if I could help him, to have him acknowledge me."

_Do I?_

_Do I love him?_

Inner Sakura, for once, did not reply.

"Aa," said Kakashi. "So that is all, really?"

"Yes."

"I see," he mumbled. He didn't look convinced at all as he wearily raised his navy blue mask to hide the eye. Meanwhile, the Hokage was merely raising an eyebrow at the interaction between teacher and student.

Sakura frowned. Did he not believe her? How could he? She had even made sure…

"Sakura, I've no reason to doubt anything you've just told me, especially with this sharingan of mine. But why did you even want to spy on us on the first place?"

"I… I…" Sakura bit her lip. It had been all her fault, giving herself away just by hearing some shocking information.

"I'm really sorry, Hokage-sama, Kakashi-sensei. I was always been interested in reconnaissance, even if I didn't have any special kekkai genkai that would make me useful in that area. I just wanted to… feel the excitement of sneaking out into the night." She bowed, so low that the tips of her hair was only an inch away from the ground.

Kakashi frowned disapprovingly. "That was foolish of you, Sakura." He glanced towards the Sandaime, who heaved a great sigh. "Very well. I'm informing your parents of this matter."

"Yes, sir," the genin responded.

"I will let you by this time. You may leave now, Sakura."

"I – wait, what?" said girl gaped at the man who had ruled Konoha for many decades.

"You heard me," he retorted, this time with a chuckle. "Go on now, your mother must be worried."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama!" The 12 year old girl began to climb out the window, before pausing. "I think it would be best if you increased the security around your building." She darted out of sight and leapt away.

A brief silence flooded the room – each man with his own thoughts, pondering the events that had just occurred.

"That girl really is something, for someone coming from a civilian family."

After a momentary pause, the aged kage looked at the jounin, his eyes searching for any clue as to what the silver-haired man was thinking.

"You didn't believe any of that, did you?" he asked, leaning back into his chair, hands folded across his lap.

"I'm afraid not. Too many strange, odd events occurred for me to believe such a simple story, even if there was some truth to it. There must be more than that."

"I see. But you seemed to have no problems with letting her leave?"

"True. I didn't want her to panic and become wearier of us if we forced her to spill anything."

"Aa… so what made you doubt her, anyway?"

"Several things, some of which trouble me greatly. When we were at the Land of Waves, Sasuke confided in me that he saw Sakura looking at him with hate, and sometimes being cold towards him. Quite odd for someone that claims to 'love him.' Also, she was able to notice that the child, Haku, had been posing as a hunter-nin. On the whole, she's been doing some… questionable things."

"I trust that you included any suspicious activity in your mission report?"

"Yes, of course."

"In that case, you may go home and rest as well. Thank you for your service, Kakashi-san."

The jounin shunshined out of sight, leaving the old Hokage in his dimly-lit office.

"Owl-san."

A tall, well-built female ANBU poofed into the room, kneeling before the Hokage. True to her code-name, her mask was crafted similar to that of a great-horned owl. Two protruding "tufts of fur" decorated with red ink adorned the top of the mask, while the cheek areas were smooth and rounded and emphasized two round holes that showed a glint of light brown.

"How many ANBU currently are in patrol duty?"

"Throughout the village, 18 during the day and 21 at night. In the Hokage tower, 2 and 3 respectively."

"And jounin and chunin?"

"Village daytime, 35, nighttime 52. Hokage tower daytime 11, nighttime 20."

"I see. Thank you, Owl-san. I would like to inform you that a young genin girl managed to sneak into my very office just now due to the carelessness of our front door patrol group. Please refrain from allowing new chunin to take part in the night patrols, they tend to be more careless when there isn't anyone around to make sure they are doing their duty. Oh, and please increase our patrol duty numbers as you see fit. Not so much as to arouse suspicion within our village – we do not want to scare anyone, just enough to ensure this mistake will not happen again."

"I am deeply sorry for my carelessness, Hokage-sama-"

"No, no, I did not mean to put any blame on you. I myself should have foreseen something like this. Our security has not been the best of late, especially considering that the chunin exams are to begin within the next week or so. Anyway, you are dismissed. You may have a good evening."

"Hai."

* * *

Sakura hurriedly leapt across roof after roof, urging herself to quickly get home. She felt near-exhausted already and could already feel her eyes drooping shut before forcing them open again. Knowing that the cloak would protect her from most detection, she willingly let her guard down, instead focusing on making the return trip home.

At last, she passed the Yamanaka Flower Shop and onto the tiled roofs of her neighbours' apartments and houses. Luckily for her Konoha's neighbourhoods, unlike the Hokage tower, had specifically constructed their roofs as to allow shinobi to travel freely on top of them without a sound, otherwise she would've been making quite the racket. She leapt onto her balcony, dragging her windows open, and climbed through. As soon as she took off her boots, she plopped onto the bed and went out like a light, her grandfather's cloak draped around her like a protective blanket.

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha leaned against the railing of a well-carved bridge built over Konoha's largest river. It was 9am – the time at which Team 7 had agreed to meet up before going off on their separate ways last evening. Unsurprisingly, he was the first one to appear.

Several minutes passed by in silence – something the genin was quite used to. He took the time to wonder about the strange happenings in wave.

Two civilian girls who looked no older than 13 passed by, talking about something trivial such as clothes or boys. They began to ascend up the bridge, the volume of their chatter increasing by the second, when one of the girls gasped. Immediately they began to whisper furiously. Sasuke, who had better hearing than the average pre-teen boy, could hear them quite clearly.

"Look, it's that hot guy we saw at the special ninja academy last time!"

"Oh my gosh… you should go up and ask for his name!"

"Aaah, I'm too nervous! You ask him!"

"No, you!"

Said Uchiha scowled. He hated girls like those, knowing nothing of the shinobi arts and having nothing better to do than gossip around. Hoping neither of them had the guts to approach him, he closed his eyes and directed his thoughts elsewhere.

"Is he sleeping or something?"

"Nah, he couldn't be… but forget that, did you see how long his eyelashes are? I'm sooo jealous!"

"He's so handsome… yet pretty like a girl too!"

"That's it, I'm gonna talk to him!"

Damn. It seemed like a confrontation with the annoying idiots was inevitable, after all. One of the two girls, ginger-haired and dressed in shades of navy blue and turquoise, approached Sasuke.

"Hey there cutie… what's your name?" A high-pitched, supposedly-cute voice interrupted the silence.

Sasuke Uchiha shifted uncomfortably. He despised flirting or teasing of any kind, and this was no different. Unsure of what to say without having the girl break up in tears and make things much more awkward (something Sasuke painstakingly learned from experience), he simply looked in a different direction and ignored the civilian.

The girl frowned bitterly, but didn't back off. "Hello? Can you hear me?" There was a slight gruffness in her tone.

"Obviously," Sasuke couldn't help but retort. Ugh. Now the girl would be provoked to talk even _more. Control yourself, _he chided.

"So you can!" Her voice returned to its previous state. "You're a shy one, huh?"

"Sasuke! Who are they?" Naruto had arrived at the bridge, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his neon orange pants. He raised a curious eyebrow at the two girls standing next to Sasuke.

"Shinki-chan!" The other girl who had been silent hissed. "It's _him! _Let's leave before he does something bad!"

The ginger-haired girl immediately tensed up and then, before a second could even pass, they began sprinting towards the other end of the bridge.

"Hey! Wait!" Naruto yelled, reaching a hand out towards the other two girls. It was too late – they were already out of sight. The blonde sighed. "Geez…"

The dark-haired adolescent stared at his klutz of a teammate and frowned. "What did you do to them to make them hate you so much?"

Naruto's eyes widened for a fraction of a second before remembering that they weren't supposed to be on good terms with each other.

_Right, he's a good for nothing teme, dattebayo!_ He scoffed. "Not like you would care." The blonde folded his arms and looked away.

"Hn." Sasuke replied with equal dislike. He stared in the opposite direction, towards the slow-moving waters below the bridge. He gazed downwards upon his reflection. He saw no handsome, 12-year-old ninja with "shimmering onyx orbs", "silky jet black hair with hints of navy blue", and "pale, flawless skin" – just a plain old 12 year old boy with plain eyes, messy black hair that would never stay down, and a past that no child deserved.

Half an hour later found Sasuke in the exact same position he was in and Naruto, whose bright orange trousers were rolled up to his knees, playing with some tadpoles in the river. While Naruto had found some small amount of entertainment in his childish games, Sasuke was utterly bored. Proper Uchiha etiquette had deemed that an Uchiha never be late, no matter what the event was. And while Sasuke knew the time spent waiting for his ridiculously late teacher could've been better spent sleeping in or training, he was the only Uchiha left in Konoha - it wouldn't do to dishonor the Uchiha name, lest his parents be rolling in their graves.

The soft thud-thud of someone going up the bridge caught Sasuke's ear. He glanced toward his left to find his female teammate.

"Good morning, Naruto, Sasuke-kun," mumbled Sakura, in between two yawns.

"Sakura-chaa-AAH!" Naruto, who had been too eager to talk to Sakura to notice his surroundings, was interrupted by a slippery flat rock. He fell face flat into the water, soaking his jumpsuit and hair.

"You're late," muttered Sasuke. Although it was a statement, she couldn't help but notice the questioning-tone in which he talked to her.

"Good morning to you too," Sakura retorted under her breath. Raising her voice, she continued, "Well, there's no point in waiting for hours on end just for Kakashi-sensei to come, right? Might as well train a bit. Or sleep, I guess."

Well, damn her for not being an Uchiha. He couldn't deny her words, so he simply sighed and allowed her to stand next to him.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as she folded her elbows on top of the railing of the bridge. "You used to get uncomfortable when I stood this close to you."

"You used to be a lot more annoying."

She smiled. "Good point."

"Saaaakuraa-chaaaaaaaaaan!" Naruto, who had taken his jacket off and hung it against the railing to dry, ran over to stand next to Sakura. "You look pretty today!"

"Naruto..." growled Sakura. Before another second could pass though, she stopped. Oh, to hell with punching the boy. He'd be getting a lot more in the future, anyway. "What, I'm not smart too?"

Naruto paled as he realized his mistake. "No! You're smart too, Sakura-chan, it's just that - well - I just wanted to say - uhm -"

Sakura burst into laughter at her teammate's antics. "I'm joking, Naruto. Thanks though." _Yondaime-sama's son, huh? I wonder..._

Exhaling with tremendous relief, Naruto slumped against the railing and breathed, "Thank Kami-sama!"

"What're we thanking Kami-sama for?"

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! YOU'RE LATE!" yelled Naruto. Sakura, who knew just where her teacher went in the mornings, decided to cut her teacher some slack and Sasuke was, well, Sasuke - quiet as ever but also slightly irritated at his teacher's punctuality.

"Now now, there was a black cat and -"

"What's our mission today?" Sakura interrupted, not caring whatsoever about Kakashi's latest excuse.

Chuckling lightly, the jounin instructor pulled a scroll from his pouch and began to read, his single eye skimming across the paper.

"Naruto, Sasuke, you two are going to pick up any litter in Training Ground Two."

"Aww man!" Naruto growled, crossing his arms. "More boring stuff..."

"What about me, Kakashi-sensei?" queried Sakura, a small frown on her face. _Don't tell me they still suspect me..._

"I'm going to be teaching you something today," Kakashi replied cheerily.

"What! Why not me, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled. "Well, not that Sakura isn't good enough, but I'm good too!"

Sasuke scowled and clenched his fists, glaring off to the side.

One look at her teammates, and Sakura replied, "I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. Call me lazy, or stupid, but I'd rather help pick up litter _with the rest of Team 7. _It wouldn't be fair to just train me. That'd be showing favouritism. Didn't you always used to say teamwork was the most important?"

A single eye widened. "Are you sure?"

"Definitely."

"Alright then. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura-"

"Don't be stupid." Sasuke muttered.

Sakura frowned, facing her normally-quiet teammate. "Excuse me?"

"Why would you give up some perfectly good training just to pick up litter with us? Stop trying to rub it in our faces. You _are _being lazy and stupid."

"Well I'm sorry, Uchiha, if unlike you I actually care about my team and not just about gaining power!" Her body shook with rage.

"I don't have any choice, do I?" For the first time, Sasuke's voice was raised. "Not when my own family is dead because my very own brother!"

"I-" Sakura bit her lip. "Sasuke, I -"

"Let's go. We're wasting time." Sasuke leapt into the nearest tree in the direction of the training grounds.

Kakashi sighed, having put down his book for several minutes now. "Sasuke's right. Let's go, Sakura." He, too, left the bridge, leaving a cloud of smoke as he shunshined away.

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto patted her shoulder gently, "Thanks for trying to make it fair. But Sasuke-teme does have a point. You shouldn't give up a real training session for any old D-rank mission, especially if you have the choice, dattebayo." His words were so mature, so un-Narutolike, that Sakura actually listened to them.

Naruto leapt towards the trees too, leaving Sakura wondering just how much pain Sasuke had to hide ever since the massacre.

* * *

"Alright, you three," pronounced Kakashi. "You all did well. Meet me tommorow, same place, same time."

"And by same time, would you mean three hours past 9 in the morning?" Sakura asked, sweetly.

"Very funny, Sakura. No, I mean 9am. See you all."

Satisfied that his three genin students had got the message, Kakashi pulled out his book, flipped to where he had left his bookmark, and shunshined away.

"So... uh..." even Naruto could notice the tension that was thick in the air. "I'll be leaving now! Bye Sakura-chan!" He sped off in the direction of his apartment, hoping not to get caught in any more awkward arguments.

Sasuke began to walk homeward as well, giving Sakura a clear view of the Uchiha crest embroidered into the back of his navy blue shirt. As she stared at his shirt, Sakura frowned. How lonely it must've been, to be the only one wearing that crest. She tried to imagine a world where all her loved ones were dead.

And then it struck her. Her loved ones _were _dead, only she'd been whisked away, off into her special "mission" so fast, that she hadn't been able to truly process the idea in her mind. There were so many people she hated with a passion, so many people who had harmed the people she grew up with her whole life.

_Orochimaru.. Kabuto.. Itachi.. Pain.. Akatsuki.. _she grimaced. If only she could kill these people - or better, inflict upon them the same pain they caused to her.

_**You want revenge for your friends, just like Sasuke wants revenge for his family. **_

_I think_ _I'm beginning to understand how he feels._

"Sasuke-kun."

Said boy stopped in his tracks, but did not turn around. "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I know it's frustrating. Not being able to do a thing about the ones you care about."

He still didn't turn around, although he didn't walk away either, so Sakura took it as a good sign and continued, "But that's why we should stick together - that's why we should focus on teamwork. Because, if you work together, maybe you _can _do something about it."

After several seconds of silence passed, Sasuke resumed exiting the grounds. Sakura sighed in exasperation, "Sasuke-kun, I know you're still angry and all, but I really didn't mean to ditch training or anything..." she trailed off. Sasuke must've found her even more annoying now. It was a pity, really, they'd just got on better terms with each other, too...

"It's ok." This time, Sasuke was facing Sakura. Their eyes locked for a moment, and then the Uchiha gave a subtle nod. "See you tommorow."

"See you tommorow, Sasuke-kun." Smiling, she headed towards the opposite direction - the Konoha library.

* * *

"Good morning, you three!" Kakashi appeared, his tone light and cheerful, and not at all like that of a ninja teacher. After nearly going deaf in both ears from Naruto's shriek (and Sakura's halfhearted shout) of "YOU'RE LATE!", Kakashi's tone immediately became serious. "Listen up, you three.

"I've nominated all of you for this year's Chunin Exams."

* * *

A/N: Oh, wow – just a couple of weeks ago I watched the last Harry Potter film, and when I came back to this, I realized Sakura's 'cloak' plays a similar role to Harry's invisibility cloak… so if any of you thought the same thing I did, please understand I did not mean to copy the cloak idea on purpose. Also, the cloak will thankfully not be taking a big place in this fanfic so hopefully it won't be too much of a problem.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	14. Forgive and Forget

Well.. *coughs* HI GUYS! It's been so long, I know, but so much has happened. Well, mainly school. I got in the International Baccalaureate program this year, and thus life's been really hectic. I'm so sorry for the long wait! Now that it's spring break I've finally gotten the opportunity to update. Without further ado, enjoy!

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

(and since I haven't really written this for many chapters, STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES)

* * *

**Chapter 13: Forgive and Forget**

* * *

"I've nominated all of you for this year's Chunin Exams."

"Chu..nin ... Exams?" Naruto looked dumbfounded, his head cocked to the side in a questioning manner. Suddenly, as if a light switch had been flipped out, he shrieked, "THE CHUNIN EXAMS! Kakashi-sensei -!"

"I'm glad that you're glad, Naruto, but now isn't the time for plesantries. Unfortunately I need to go on a, ah, mission. I'll be back before dawn to see you guys off tommorow."

"Wait," Sakura said, furrowing her brows. "Tommorow?"

"That's right.. unfortunately we were delayed with our previous mission," Sakura blushed at her sensei's words, "so we won't have much time for preparations - not that you should require it, of course. Anyway, I'll give you guys your forms."

He handed his three genin students each a crisp sheet of white paper. Naruto looked absolutely elated; bouncing up and down in his position. Sakura spared a quick glance towards Sasuke. His fists were clenched, and she inwardly sighed - knowing him, he was probably reminded of his brother, Itachi, and how he had achieved Chunin status when he was much, much younger.

Finally, Kakashi faced Sakura. For a moment, steel grey met jade, Kakashi's single eye gauging Sakura's reactions.

Noting Kakashi's look, Sakura muttered, "I'm not afraid, Kakashi-sensei."

"I figured. Good luck."

The rosette smiled. Then, she turned her attentions towards the paper she had received, and chuckled. It was a simple form, really, asking basic details such as age, name, date of birth, as well as a space to sign, confirming that if one lost his or her life in the exams, the Village of Konoha was in no way at fault. She folded the form, and tucked it into her pocket. She then said, "Well boys, I think I'm going to leave too. Bye Sasuke-kun, bye Naruto."

Said boys both nodded. Some time after she had disappeared, Sasuke began to ascend from his position against the bridge.

"She's different," remarked Naruto. He was completely serious - not a trace of his childish manner in sight.

Sasuke paused. For a moment, he seemed as if he was about to remark something . Then, without a word, he left.

Naruto snorted, and looked skyward. His eyes were a deep, dark cerulean blue. Had Sakura - or any girl for that matter - seen him at that moment, she might have even considered him extremely attractive.

"So you've noticed, too."

He wasn't referring to Sakura's sudden gain in strength which, in itself, was quite a mystery. Naruto always knew Sakura had talent, though. No, it was her change in demeanour. She could pretend to be happy, she could pretend to be sad, she could pretend someone else. But her eyes - her eyes couldn't pretend. She couldn't hide the sorrow, the pain, the secrets in her eyes. Naruto recognized that look, that look of pain, because he saw it in his own eyes, every morning in the mirror. For weeks, she hadn't bullied him, or been mean to him, if you didn't count the occasional beating and scolding that, face it, he probably deserved.

But.._. she _never had to live with a _demon_ in her, _she_ never had to be ridiculed with a passion, tortured, beaten for something she had no control over. _She _never had people look at her with such pure, furious disgust and hate. _She _never -

"Stop it, Naruto," he muttered angrily. She had had her fair share of pain too, he figured, being bullied by her classmates and all. But, Naruto reasoned, surely a bit of bullying wouldn't have affected her that greatly? And why now, rather then before? It was odd.

Or maybe, she'd been hiding it all along. But now that he got to see her nearly every day, for hours at a time, she'd finally opened up a bit. that was certainly a possibility.

His blood ran cold. So even Sakura had things to hide.

It wasn't that surprising, he knew. After all, when it came down to it, everyone had things to hide. Everyone was a mystery.

But he couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. To him, Sakura wasn't just a pretty face. True, to an outsider she might've been; she had been mean to him in the past just like all the other girls, but... she was so, beautifully, utterly, simple. And to Naruto, the boy whose life had been complicated ever since he was born, it was a dream come true. To meet someone that didn't have the pain or the past of a jinchuuriki, someone who didn't belong to some noble clan and had to adhere to all the rules, someone who was completely free and happy. But it wasn't just that. She had a burning desire for recognition, just like he did, _even _if it stemmed from a certain Uchiha. He could connect with her on that aspect.

And it was probably for that reason Naruto began to love the rosette. True, she didn't like him, but at least she never _hated_ him, not like girls like Ami or Ino. He could see it in her eyes. Heavy dislike, yes, but not hate. Certainly not hate. And for Naruto, that was more than he could ever ask for.

But, he supposed, he was blinded by his love for her. He never really knew the true Sakura Haruno, beyond "the pretty, simplistic girl". Love, he supposed -

No... he sighed. Not love. He was smart enough to realize that now. He did not love Sakura. He certainly liked her as more than a friend, and he supposed it would certainly stay that way for quite a while, but... not love. You couldn't love someone you didn't even know.

Perhaps her "simplicity" had been enough for him back then, but it certainly wasn't enough now. He'd get to know her this time. He'd try and crack her open, and in turn, reveal his own secrets. Maybe, at the very least, he could salvage a good friend.

Naruto closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a bright, glossy baby blue.

"NA-RU-TO! I'VE FOUND YOU AT LAST! COME BACK HERE AND REPAINT THE DAMAGE YOU'VE DONE TO MY FENCE!" An old man, stick in hand, hobbled towards the young genin, a deep scowl grooved into his wrinkles.

Naruto cackled for a moment at the man. "Catch me if you can, oji-san!" He sprung away, a grin plastered on his face.

* * *

Sakura entered the Konoha Library and made a detour to the left hallway, which was blocked by an old, wooden door. A neat gold plaque titled, "Shinobi Section - RESTRICTED TO CIVILIANS AND MINORS" had been hammered onto the rough surface of the wood. The kunoichi wrenched the door open. A young woman with thick glasses perched on the bridge of her nose was flipping through a book. The bright rays of the afternoon sun shone conveniently down on her book, and her lamp was shut off. Dark shiny curls fell from her messy bun that had been pinned on her head. At the sound of the door, she glanced upwards.

"Card, plea-? Oh, it's you." She performed a simple disillusionment hand sign. When Sakura had not changed in appearance, she smiled. "Just checking. Hi, Sakura. I swear, you're one of the few genin that ever come here nowadays. Genin these days... treating the shinobi arts like a game! Anyway, you know where to go."

Sakura's face heated - after all, she had been one of those "genin these days" too, at one time. Clearing her throat, she replied, "Thanks, Ashita-san." She headed towards the end of the hallway, towards a section titled "Main Branch", before glancing at the other sections, such as "CHUNIN AND UP ONLY" or "JOUNIN AND UP ONLY" or even "ANBU ONLY". She frowned. If she had been in the future, she could've accessed the Chunin section, or the Jounin section with permission from Tsunade...

She glanced back. And grinned. She was a fool for not thinking of this the first time she had visited the library, several visits prior.

Long ago, back in her chunin days, Sakura had wanted to access the higher-level sections for some extra research. Tsunade, that sneaky woman, devised a small jutsu Sakura could perform to outsmart the barrier jutsus on the libraries.

Well, it wasn't hers, exactly.

"Perks of being a Hokage's granddaughter," Tsunade had muttered cheekily while Shizune had scowled in a corner.

What if...?

Sakura approached the Chunin entrance, her hands performing several subtle hand signs.

Gingerly, she stepped into the room.

Nothing had happened.

She grinned mischeviously, and instantly began perusing the worn down texts with a renewed eagerness.

"Sakura-san."

She froze, whipping around, thoughts of instant regret and excuses coming to mind.

It was Shikamaru Nara. She raised an eyebrow, all ideas for an excuse slipping from her mind. She had certainly not expected him of all people. Shouldn't he be at his usual spot in the hills, gazing amongst the clouds?

"Oh, hi Shikamaru-san. What brings you here?"

For a moment, Shikamaru looked the slightest bit surprised, but that look was soon replaced by his usual, bored face. "Dad wants me to prepare for the Chunin exams. Being in a renowned clan has its perks, I guess, so I was able to access the Chunin section. What about you? Out of all people, I'd have expected you to be here the least. That is, besides Ino."

Sakura said nothing, frowning. She was a chunin for god sakes, not a genin - at the very least she could have performed a genjutsu to hide her appearance.

Noting her discomfort, Shikamaru said, "You don't need to tell me anything if you don't want to."

Relieved, Sakura muttered a short thanks before returning to the shelves.

"Say," remarked the young boy, leaning on the mahogany table placed neatly next to several shelves, "you don't seem like the type to be here, let alone in the Chunin section."

"You don't seem like the type that would go out of his way to make conversation."

Shikamaru's face cracked into a small smile. "Touché. It's troublesome, but it beats the boredom."

Sakura grinned. _That's the Shikamaru I know._ "What have you been reading?" she queried.

"Just a few books on increasing stamina," the black-haired genin replied casually.

"Oh?"

"Well, I guess it'll be useful in the long run. What are you looking for?"

"Coincidentally, the same thing. My stamina's quite poor, actually."

"No kidding." Suddenly, as if remembering something, Shikamaru muttered, "Oh great." A scowl adorned his features as he scratched the back of his head.

Sakura had not said anything, merely rolling her eyes. "What?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "I was expecting you to... never mind. You know, you're a lot better to deal with when you're not around Sasuke or Ino."

"So I've been told. Could I take a look at your book?"

"Sure." He gestured towards a book to his right.

The rosette approached the table, and sat down where a dark green book had been opened to somewhere in the middle of its pages. She flipped through absentmindedly.

"Your hair's shorter."

"No, it just decided to cut itself off," she retorted sarcastically. She couldn't help but smile, though. As she had grown older and started to notice the people around her rather than just Sasuke, she had realized Shikamaru was actually quite the decent companion, especially on missions. He wasn't overbearing and loud like Naruto, or emotionless and annoying like Sai. She felt a bitter wave of nostalgia.

"It looks better."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. Did Shikamaru, of all people, just complement her?

"Don't tell Ino I said that though, or she'll tease me to no end. Seriously, troublesome girl..." he muttered.

The rosette grinned. Perhaps she could find a friend, a beacon of support on her mission. Shikamaru was logical; and maybe, just maybe, if she trusted him enough, she could reveal to him her deepest secret. If he didn't think she was absolutely batshit insane, maybe he could even help.

"Say, maybe we should -"

Soft snores filled the room. Sakura glanced up towards the Nara boy, who had taken a seat opposite her and had fallen asleep in his arms.

She smiled and continued to read to her heart's content.

* * *

Several hours of practice later found Sakura winded and panting, leaning against the smooth bark of an oak tree. It was quite warm this time of year, and the sun was glowing ever-so-brightly; thus, the girl had naturally taken refuge in the sweet coolness of the shade the trees had to offer.

"Sakura.."

Instantly, the girl perked up at her name. So whoever it was had finally decided to reveal his or her identity, huh?

"Oh please, I've been waiting for you to reveal yourself. Who are you? Some genin, perhaps, for I've noticed your chakra signature for quite a while. Tell me, what've you been doing, watching me for the past thirty minutes?" Finally, Sakura looked around to see her hidden watcher. Her jaw dropped.

"I-Ino?" Great. First Shikamaru, now Ino. Who next? Chouji?

"That's right!" Ino crossed her arms over her chest, leaning on one leg. A frown graced her features; she looked overwhelmingly confused.

"What's wrong? You look... distressed." Sakura frowned.

_Don't get emotional, Sakura, don't get emotional just because she looks sad, she's not your friend right now, just -_

"I'll tell you what's wrong. _You're_ what's wrong. I just don't get you!"

Now _that _hadn't been what she'd been expecting. "I confuse you because ..? What, does me training or doing something besides attending to my looks _really_ surprise everyone that much? Dear Kami, this is -"

"Exactly! You're so... so... different! And, I don't even know why I'm so frustrated over you!"

"..What do you mean?"

"I just don't get it! Why are you acting so different around everyone, around me? Don't tell me you aren't, I can tell. Stop looking at me _that _way!"

"I'm not! What are you talking about -"

"Like you're sad! Like you pity me! It's aggravating!"

Sakura blanched. Had she really been that obvious? "I..."

"No! I've already started, just don't interrupt me - I just hate this feeling that's been bubbling inside. Every time I see you, you aren't doing something about your appearance, or using your chances to get with Sasuke. I don't understand! Why don't you care about the fact that your hair has a dozen split ends? Why don't you do something about those horrid scars of yours? You look hideous but you **don't even care!**"

"Now hold on a minute," shouted Sakura, her temper rising by the minute, "just because -"

"Shut up!" Ino shouted, clenching her fists.

Sakura froze, shocked, staring at Ino.

"I told you not to.." she panted, "interrupt." She frowned, trembling. "Please, just... help me stop this! Why, why is it always you? Why is it you? You're the one that gets to be with Sasuke-kun, and yet you don't even realize how lucky you are! Girls would KILL just to be in your place! So why? And what's worse is, the fact you're so... so, carefree, it just angers me! Do you know how much I wish I could just, escape this horrid bubble of caring, of having to feel like I'm worthless without my looks? We both grow our hair long because Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair and yet without any care you've cut practically A YEAR'S WORTH OF HAIR!"

"I-Ino, I -"

"Sakura, don't do this to me. I just, I .. why did we stop being friends? Wasn't I a good enough friend?" Tears began to well in the blonde's eyes.

Emerald eyes widened. What was happening? "Ino..."

"Don't just _Ino _me! I admit, Sasuke-kun is the most important person to me, but, Sakura, you're, you're..."

Sakura was rendered speechless. Never in her life had she seen Ino like this. Not ever. Had her best friend been keeping these feelings in all this time, even after they had rekindled their friendship?

"You know... I... I'm.. I'm jealous of you, Sakura. There, I admitted it. You're so lucky - you have a skinny, well built figure. Sasuke-kun practically respects you, even though he'd be hard pressed to admit it. And... your confidence. You've grown so much, you've become a better person than I could have ever -"

"Shut up, Ino. I'm not better than you. You can't just determine whether someone is better than another so simply like that. You can't just say I'm better than you, or you're better than me, got it? Besides... Sasuke-kun? Respect me? That's impossible. He's an arrogant little prick, and he needs to get off his high horse or I'll knock him off it for him."

It was Ino's turn to freeze. For a moment, she seemed to be in some sort of reverie. She frowned. "Don't insult Sasuke-kun! Anyway, I'm sorry, Sakura. That was really embarrassing of me. You never heard this from me, alright?" As an afterthought, she muttered, "Forehead-girl."

Sakura could feel her heart pound against her chest. Tears threatened to spill out of her own eyes. Her vision blurred. "Shut up Ino, you can't just deny your feelings."

"You can't tell me what I can't and can do!"

"No, but I can tell you the truth. Do you have any idea how jealous I've always been of you? You're _perfect._ You don't just have the perfect blonde hair, the baby blue eyes, the gorgeous clothing, you have the popularity, the smarts. You've _always _been better than me. I've always been outsmarted by you, whether it be ANYTHING. Do you know how horrible that feels?"

"If you want to be first so much, why aren't you even _fighting _for it?"

"Because I know now, it isn't just about popularity, or looks, or smarts. Sure, it's nice, but in the long run... does it really matter? Does it really matter how soft, silky, and long your hair is when you're out on a mission with your teammates and you have to endure seeing them being tortured, and realizing there's nothing you can do about it? Does it really matter how skinny or well-built you are when you've failed the people you care for you, when everyone relies on you but you just fail everything? Does it even _matter?"_ Her voice had grown to a deadly hiss.

"Oh, please! Save me the shinobi talk! You haven't even been on a serious mission before, let alone experienced real pain! Who are you to tell me things like this?"

"Because-" Sakura's voice faltered. She blinked away hot, angry tears. "Do you know how it felt, not being able to do a thing while my teammates were practically dying at the Land of Waves?" Her voice was a hoarse whisper. Memories of the incident, back when she was a helpless genin, made her shiver.

"Popularity didn't save the young boy who died to save his master, back at the bridge. Looks didn't save that master who spent the final minutes of his life avenging that young boy."

"Then... why, Sakura? Why did you want to stop being friends?"

"I'm sorry for that, I really am, Ino. I've been an idiot."

There was a long silence. It dragged on for what seemed like hours. The air was thick with tension, but Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before -

"You know, I think I'm alright. With, well, being your friend again. Only if you want to, of course."

"W-what?"

"Forehead girl, I'm pretty sure you aren't deaf. Now answer me before I get even more embarassed."

"I.. you want to be my friend?" Sakura couldn't believe her ears. Was this even happening?

_Ino, I'm really sorry, I know I've been a real horrible person. I can't believe I sacrificed you for some boy. Can we... just be friends again?_

_No, Sakura. We may be on speaking terms but that doesn't mean we have to be friends. _

"Heck, Sakura, you _are_ deaf!"

_Ino, please... don't deny it, you were obsessed with Sasuke-kun too! And you know how hard it is for me to -_

_No, Sakura, I can't. I just can't. You still call him Sasuke-**kun.** You have to do better than that if you want to be best friends again._

"I... Ino, I've wanted to be your friend again ever since we made that stupid promise."

_Ino! Don't die on me! You're not allowed to die!_

_Calm down, Sakura. I'm not dying anytime soon, geez. Do you really think it'd be that easy to get rid of me?_

_Ino..._

"Me too... we're just a bunch of stupid lovesick girls, aren't we? At least, me, I guess."

_I'm sorry, Sakura. I've just been bitter, you know? I know it wasn't your fault. It was mine, too. I guess you could call me stupid._

_Ino, that's not true and you know it._

_A smile. Kami, I've missed playing around with that pink hair of yours. None of my dolls ever had pink hair._

"That's not true and you know it." Sakura grinned.

_Oh gosh, Ino, that's really creepy._

_I know right? I totally didn't say that._

_Totally._

Ino flashed Sakura a grin. "See you tommorow. And, uh.. good luck." She left.

"You too."

Sakura clenched her fists tightly. This was why she wanted to save the people she loved. To bring back moments like this. To bring change in her life. To do something that wasn't just to benefit herself, but also everyone else. To be selfless, for once.

Feeling a surge of adrenaline despite the physical and emotional fatigue she felt, she began her training with a renewed vigor.

Maybe tommorow, before the written test, she'd find Kurenai. Maybe even Anko.

* * *

A small figure was perched on a the tallest branch of the old oak tree. It was impossible to discern the identity of the figure. One thing was certain, however. Sakura did not take notice of the figure; she was much too preoccupied with her goal.

The silhouette disappeared into the midst of the descending sun.

Perhaps now was not the time.

* * *

A/N: HI :) Well, this has been a rather... I don't know, cheesy/meaningful/deep/sappy/monologue-y/tearjerking chapter? Well anyway, this chapter sort of sets the stage for friendships and more to blossom or.. er... unblossom? Who knows ;) Anyway, I'll try and update ASAP! Like within this week! Seriously! Not joking!

(and also.. as for the "figure" at the end of the chapter... Guess who? ;)


	15. An Unspoken Farewell

Imagine my surprise when I realized that you people still keep up with this story, even after my sudden hiatus! Thank you for everyone who has stuck with me all this time, I'll try not to let you guys down too much!

**Gone to the World, juniperlei**: nice tries! ;)

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

* * *

**Chapter 14: An Unspoken Farewell**

* * *

Sakura Haruno awoke to the dull sensation of an irritating itch on her nose. Immediately, she sat straight up straight as a board in the comfort of her soft bed. She had grown accustomed to the feeling of Tsunade's infrequent messages; more often than not, when she was conscious, the signal of her great shishou's messages was unnecessary. Sakura simply _knew. _Perhaps Tsunade had developed an improved method of her communication jutsu, or she was simply getting used to it.

The young girl summoned the deep midnight black scroll; unfurling it gingerly, she was about to crack a soft smile at the sight of her shishou's handwriting, when she noticed the crisp elegant script of Shizune's.

_Sakura,_

_This is Shizune. Tsunade-sama is busy at the moment, so I am currently acting as her scribe as she speaks. I miss you dearly! I wish you the best of luck on your test today. Anyway..._

_Hello, Sakura. This is Tsunade. Of course, knowing you, you shall have no trouble with the exams at all. I have a greater matter at hand, however. I'm sure you have heard of the renowned Uchiha Madara before, no? This message concerns... him._

The rosette frowned. She did not like the tone this message was heading towards.

"Uchiha.. Madara..." she mumbled, frowning. She thought back to lessons of Konoha's noble history; the epic battle between Uchiha Madara and the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the End and long lectures of "prestigious history" of how the great Uchiha came to his demise.

_First and foremost... I've come to the conclusion that the massacre of the Uchiha Clan was not a single-man job. No, that night, there was another, a man far more powerful and deadly than Itachi... Madara._

"B-but how can that be?" Sakura frowned; '_Madara died long before the massacre..._

Or did he?'

She continued to peruse the contents of the message.

_Yes, it was he who took part in the killings of the Uchiha Clan, it was he who ruined the life of Uchiha Sasuke, not Itachi. And thus...the real enemy at hand is **neither **Pain, Itachi, nor Orochimaru, as we had suspected, but a force far more terrible._

An audible gasp escaped the rosette's lips -

_I'm so sorry to have placed such a burden on you, Sakura. This is not the mission for a mere 16 year old chunin, despite your prowess. But you see, Sakura. Don't lose hope. You see, we have... time. And time, my dear student, is far greater than any other chunin, jounin, ANBU, or even Kage. Like I mentioned weeks ago, I have complete faith in you._

_I'm afraid I'll have to end here, for there is.. much to do at the moment, and Konoha is in the process of reconstruction. Best of luck,_

_Tsunade and Shizune._

With a deep sigh, Sakura performed the disappearance jutsu. Indeed; she feared her fate, but the comfort of time travel and the power that she brought this time around gave her hope, hope that she needed desperately in her solo mission.

Sakura wrote a swift but heartfelt reply, relaying the events that had occurred so far and some of her plans. Then, she swiftly donned her ninja attire; however she did not pack much, knowing exactly what the outcome of the first examination would be. But certain items she kept close at hand. For instance, several scrolls of vital knowledge and information; her inherited burgundy cloak, and the black scroll given to her by the Fifth.

This she sealed all in a storage scroll, strapped onto her hip and enhanced with jutsus of concealment and protection.

Sakura had undergone many small, minor changes in appearance that accompanied her vast improvements in stamina, chakra, and skill. Tight, spandex black shorts, mid-calf-length boots and her typical elbow warmers and gloves covering paper-thin plate shields of feather-light metal reflected upon her ability; strength and stamina-wise, she had attained the level of a well-to-do chunin. Her coral pink locks had been maintained in an efficient medium-length braid down the nape of her neck, wisps of hair framing her face.

As always, she had kept her qipao dress. It had become a symbol to her now, of what she had been, of what she had strived to change.

She had once loved the color red. It was like the bright red lipstick her mother wore every time there was a special occasion. It made her feel feminine, mature, womanly.

And now, she felt tremendous melancholy toward this crimson red; the color of smeared blood staining white linen, the red drops of irreversible pain and grief.

Thus the dress was justice, justice for the pain she had caused others, justice for her cowardice and foolishness.

"I'll find Kurenai-san first," she muttered. "I'll find her and request her to teach me genjutsu... then, then I'll find Anko-san."

Barely had the sun risen when Sakura made her exit off her porcelain white balcony. Knowing Kurenai, however, she would be awake, just like the rest of the shinobi world. Having done some tracking on the jounin shifts of the Hokage Tower, this would be Kurenai's morning off; thus, she would most likely be spending her time in the training grounds, awaiting her students.

She leapt, rooftop over rooftop, heading towards the lush forest of the training grounds.

* * *

Kurenai was an honest, caring, down-to-earth jounin. She was not fond of cunning plots or snide trickery, but rather, courage, will, and truth. To be in the good graces of the crimson-eyed genjutsu specialist she would have to face her with a straightforward approach.

Just as expected, Sakura spotted a crimson sleeve - Kurenai was meditating, her posture calm, but alert. Without further ado, the rosette leaped off the thick branch of a lofty tree and made no attempt to hide her chakra signature. She stood, head bowed, in front of the genjutsu specialist, whose eyes were shut.

"Kurenai-san." She stated quietly.

For several minutes, Kurenai did not answer. Sakura, despite being known for her impatience, folded her hands and waited quietly. The jounin was testing her, she knew. Testing her respect, testing her patience, her will.

Finally, eyelids rose to reveal vivid orbs, like the illuminated surface of a rose.

"Your name?" The woman's voice was elegant, just like the Kurenai Sakura had known all her life.

"Sakura Haruno, Kurenai-san. Student of -"

"I did not ask whom you were taught by nor did I give you permission to call me by my first name." Her voice was curt.

_'A test, Sakura. It's all a test.'_

"Forgive me, Yuuhi-san." She bowed low; showing no signs of annoyance or impatience.

Kurenai was similar to that of Tsunade-sama, although Kurenai shared the same hard shell that Tsunade did, she was quite soft and motherly when the shell was cracked.

"What do you wish to ask of me?"

"I kindly request that you teach me the ways of genjutsu, Yuuhi-san."

"Genjutsu? In all my years as a mentor, I've never once been asked to teach the ways of genjutsu. Tell me, Sakura Haruno, what gives you the desire to learn this art?"

"You, Yuuhi-san, are one of the most renowned genjutsu specialists in Konoha. From my days at the Academy I have had an affinity for genjutsu; however, having no teacher capable of teaching me it, I was never able to truly develop any proper skills. I am no ordinary pupil wishing to learn some tricks; I have had sufficient training and development throughout my years at the Academy. I have learned whatever I can through books and will."

"Sakura, huh... I'd never thought I'd see the day when I'd be teaching one of Hatake's students..."

Sakura smiled.

"You seem to be an honest, down-to-earth student. You are not plagued by the arrogance of the great clans; and you have decent respect. Very well. I shall determine your skill. If it is as good as you say, I will train you, Sakura."

"Thank you, Yuuhi-san!"

"Call me Kurenai-sensei." She let slip a embracing smile.

A distant bark. To Sakura's right, Hinata, Kiba, Shino and Akamaru approached their jounin instructor.

"So my students have arrived. I will see you after the second segment of the Chunin exams. I wish you luck."

"Hai, Kurenai-sensei." Sakura leapt up to the welcoming boughs of the trees behind her.

The young Inuzuka gave a questioning glance towards the pink-haired genin. "Kurenai..sensei?

"Mind your own business, Kiba. Come now, we have some training to do."

* * *

Mitarashi Anko would never get sick of dango.

She sat on a polished wooden chair; a small mountain of eaten dango sticks lay, piled up on a ceramic plate placed on the centre of a chipped wooden table.

"If only all the calories went straight to my chest," the special jounin mumbled, making no hesitation in her consumption of dango.

She paused.

"Reveal yourself, comrade," she remarked.

Sakura had been standing behind a wooden pole outside the store. She had masked her chakra quite well, leaving only hints of a signature. Anko was indeed a special jounin; very few could have noticed her chakra in such a short period of time.

"I'll admit, you had me fooled there -" Anko dropped her stick of dango, the tan overcoat which she constantly wore containing the stains of the precious sweet.

"A _kid_?"

"I am the student of Kakashi Hatake. I am a mere genin, but my strengths lie in my intelligence. I wish to receive training from you in both stamina and stealth... Anko." She bent her head as a means of submission, but accompanied it with a grin."

"Heh, you've got spunk, girl." She picked up the dango stick she was previously consuming. In between bites, she muttered, "you know - for a second there - I thought you were at least a chunin, or jounin - well, sure why not, I'll teach you."

"Hai, Anko-sensei."

"Anko's good enough. She lazily grabbed a napkin, wiped her lips and dabbed at her clothing with a napkin. "It'll have to wait until after the second segment of the chunin exams, though. Oh, here's a hint, since I've taken a liking to you. I'm proctoring part of the Chunin exams! Awesome, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, very-"

"Great! Buh bye!" Within seconds the grape-haired jounin shun-shined away, snickering as she disappeared into the air.

"Thanks..."

"HEY! YOU HAVEN'T PAID THE BILL!" A young waiter came out, arm raised, a slip of paper held in hand. When the cheeky jounin was nowhere to be seen, he set his sights on Sakura. "YOU-!"

"Not anytime soon!" Sakura yelled. She, too, shun-shined away.

Form in hand, Sakura climbed the length of the staircase, cursing herself for dallying too long.

"Sakura-chan!" beckoned Naruto, who had been glaring at Sasuke, not to mention cringing at a familiar, bushy-browed-

"Lee!" Sakura shouted, smiling. No sooner than she had shouted had she gasped in horror and slapped her hand over her mouth.

The young boy, clad in green jumpsuit and sporting an unfashionable jet black bowl cut, turned around. He turned - and gasped.

In one swift move, he was in front of Sakura, a lotus blossom held in hand. Light seemed to _radiate _out of his eyes.

"Young maiden! What is your name? And to think, such a pretty lady knows of **my **name!"

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm Sakura Haruno. I've... ah, heard of you."

"OH WHAT HONOR! -"

"Move along, move along," muttered Naruto, scowling the rosette's ignorance of his greeting. Naruto's eyes met Sakura's for the briefest of moments;

"Hello, Naruto." Sakura smiled. "And you too, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn." A considerably satisfying response.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto let out a enormous grin.

The pinkette smiled, a wave of gratitude washing over her. These were the moments she lived for, seeing those she loved in front of her, well, and happy.

This was what she was fighting for.

After granting Sasuke the satisfaction and ego-stroking he needed of pointing out that no, they were not on the third floor; rather, the second, and later a reality check as Sasuke was defeated by Lee - really, now that Sakura had grown so, she did not see much skill in the Uchiha; rather, it was mostly talent, rather than practice, that fueled his ability.

And so, after approximately half an hour's delay, Sakura found herself to the left of Naruto and Sasuke, facing their very own jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi.

"You've have all done excellently, and have passed my test. I was not quite sure at first how you three would react to the prospect of the exams... but it's safe to say I think you three will fare quite well."

A nod from Sasuke; a fist pump in the air from Naruto; a genuine smile from Sakura.

Well, I guess it isn't necessary to mention that if one of them hadn't chosen to take the exams, the rest of the team would've had to forfeit... the silver-haired jounin mused.

"Good luck, you three. This will be your first true challenge to date. A chunin is different from a genin; genin rarely lose their lives in battle and are not true shinobi - while they are certainly referred to as such, the honor is far different. Do me proud, won't you?"

Together, the three opened the engraved wooden doors of the exam centre.

* * *

**Meanwhile, in the present...**

The city of Konoha lay in complete, utter ruin.

But, in a small section of Konoha's once-lush forest, there was a clearing. In that clearing there lay rows and rows of tents; and several wooden buildings, each at most only two or three floors tall.

In the tallest wooden building, several ANBU stood guard, only a meagre two or three shinobi uninjured. Of the three, this building was the most populated. On the tallest floor, behind a clear glass window pane stood a black haired woman dressed in a simple navy blue kimono. She looked terribly worse for wear; her hair lay greasy and tangled, her face pale and dirtied with sweat and grime. She gazed upon the shinobi and civilians below. But mostly, there were only the dead. Thousands and thousands of dead. There had not been enough resources to properly bury them all; thus, they lay, in neat rows, one by one, forever still, covered by thin white linen sheets. In fact, they had ran out of some sheets - some were even covered with plastic. Anything that was white that could be spared was used to cover the dead.

Fortunately, the memorial stone had miraculously been spared from the battles of war - thus; several names had been engraved onto it. Many of whom were Sakura's close friends, as well as other notable shinobi. The woman sighed.

"Shizune.." A hoarse, soft whisper.

"H-hai! Tsunade-sama!" The woman dashed over to her once mentor, now companion's side.

If Shizune had looked horrible, Tsunade was horror itself. She lay, hands folded, propped up by the finest pillows and covered in several layers of thick blankets. Her face was ashen, sunken - she was years older and the teal blue diamond once marked on her forehead was nowhere to be seen. But most of all; her eyes lacked the vivid honey color it held in its youth; where once was bright beauty left old, aged, dull grey brown.

Tsunade was shivering again; frowning, Shizune barked to a chunin, "More blankets!"

"Shizune-san, the last blanket just want to Umai-san's newborn baby, I -"

"I can't believe this!" Shizune was wringing her hands, biting her lip. Never had anyone seen her in a state like this before. "Isn't there anything? Clothes?"

"I'm afraid not..."

"Get some hot water then!"

The chunin scampered away.

"Shizune..."

"Tsunade-sama, please don't talk, you're in such a frail state right now..."

"It's.. alright, Shizune... spare the blankets for the others, the younger children. I'm just an old dying lady. Besides... I can see it."

"See what?"

"The end. **My **end. It's close... I'm a dying woman..."

"Tsunade-sama, no!"

"Shizune, I'm terribly sorry... I'm going to have to leave the burden of a hopeless village to you... I'm sorry."

"Tsu-"

"No!" the blonde croaked, erupting in a coughing fit. Shizune frowned.

"Tsunade-sama... why didn't you tell Sakura?" Her once-shishou-now-companion wearily reached for Shizune's hand. Shizune clasped it gently.

"Sakura would've wanted to know, Tsunade-sama.."

The Godaime sighed. "She can't... come back, Shizune... there isn't a reversal jutsu... she'll never see me again, anyway. If I merge my memories with my previous self, it should be... enough to..." she wheezed. "Enough to assist her. It would have been like I had never died... right now she needs hope... she would be devastated to see Konoha as it is now..." Tsunade paused. "Has _he _successfully arrived?"

"Unfortunately without your chakra we could not conjure another messaging scroll... however, seeing as you performed the jutsu with your remaining chakra yourself, there should be not fault."

"Good. Blast that horrible Madara, fooling us all like this..." A cough. "Shizune... I'm terribly sorry for leaving you with... the ruins of a village."

"It's alright, Tsunade-sama. Knowing that, at least in another timeline, our world isn't as horrible and that there is still hope... and, to know that Sakura is in _that _world... it's my final wish come true. There's no use for me, I'm the old. They're the new."

"You always were one of my favourites," the blonde chuckled. "Here... I'm going to use my last ounce of chakra to activate the messaging scroll... and then... well, I'll entrust Konoha to you... Rokudaime."

Tears began to trickle down the woman's pale cheek. "Tsunade-sama... I-I am not worthy of this position, Naruto should have-"

A wrinkled bone-thin hand gestured for Shizune to stop. "There is no one left I truly trust but you.. Shizune... now, get me the scroll..."

Obediently, the dark-haired woman summoned the scroll, retrieved a pot of ink and a brush and placed it on a small desk placed next to the dying Hokage's bed.

"Dear.. Sakura.. there are matters I need to attend to, and so I must partake a journey that will take several months..."

A tear trickled down Tsunade's ashen face.

"Unfortunately I won't be able to contact you... But know that I have... complete faith in you and that you are my prized student and daughter. I love you... very much..."

A long pause.

Shizune completed writing, and frowned. She turned to face Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama?"

No reply.

"Tsunade-sama!" The chair toppled over; hands began to check for a pulse. Needless to say, there was none.

* * *

**Chunin Exams Arc Time Period**

After much of the ruckus had died, Sakura took a seat near the hard glass windows of the vast room, carefully scanning all the prospective chunin in the room. For the most part, they all seemed rather unmenacing. Except -

She caught a glance of a long-haired grass shinobi and narrowed her eyes.

_'Orochimaru...'_

She sighed. It would have to wait until the Forest of Death, where her actions could be justified as saving the lives of her and her teammates.

She looked at each one of the people who she had grown up with for nearly her entire life. Kiba, whom Naruto glared at with annoyance, was still his energetic self, paired with a young but loyal Akamaru. Looking upon Naruto with admiring eyes was a shy pale Hinata, her locks short and her posture not yet paired with the courage her future self attained. Shino stood in a corner, silent. Sakura supposed he was doing the same as she was, inspecting those around him. The Aburame had always been very helpful when it came to missions - although he was silent and strong like Neji, he did not share the Hyuuga's arrogance. For a moment, they caught eye contact - or at least, Sakura supposed he did, behind his dark lenses.

She nodded curtly, and so did he, before he gazed upon his teammates.

Perhaps he, too, could be instrumental in her mission...

Neji, Tenten, and Lee stood beside one of the tables; Tenten smacking Lee for his exubrance and Neji simply keeping quiet. Like Hinata, this Hyuuga would grow to be far better. Neji's chin was held high, most likely thinking of how he would "certainly" achieve chunin status. It was astonishing how similar he acted to Sasuke. When she had suddenly remembered how Tenten and Neji had died in battle not long ago, Sakura's eyes widened and immediately looked at the others in the room.

"Sakura!" Ino had left Sasuke - fortunately for him - alone to brood in a quiet corner to find Sakura. "You're awfully quiet; what's up?"

Sakura smiled, although somewhat bitterly. Another one she had failed. "Just a little nervous, that's all. What about you?"

"To be honest," Ino's voice grew quieter, "I'm pretty freaked out. You see these rings?" She lifted a purple cloth attached to the thick collar of her vest-like top, where three gold rings lay clasped onto its' edge.

"You said they added, uh, flair, right?"

"Well... my dad told me not to tell, but they're actually sort of... detection rings, if you will. See, that's why there are three. One for me, one for Shikamaru, and one for Chouji. Makes their chakra signature more prominent, if you will."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing this was a hand-me-down sort of thing?"

"Yeah... cool, huh?"

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, smiling.

"What's with your new look?"

"Just makes battle easier. And yes," interjected Sakura, rolling her eyes as Ino was about to interrupt. "I know they clash with my outfit, but whatever. There are metal plates under my elbow warmers. The weight took a little time getting used to, but it'll help."

"Wow," muttered Ino, "You've really changed a lot."

"Hmmm..." muttered Sakura. "For the worse, or better?"

The corners of Ino's mouth raised higher. "For the better, of course. It's nice having no more competition."

"Hey!" shouted Sakura, in midst of laughs.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto, and the other rookie nine were crowded around a certain gray-haired man... Sakura _scowled_. She had totally forgotten about Kabuto; and there was nothing she could do about it, either, now that she had met him again. She and Ino, too, went to see what was going on. She pretended to fall for his good-natured demeanour like the rest of the rookie genin.

After some time, Naruto let out a loud shout that Sakura immediately tuned out. She groaned. _'I've got a bad feeling about this...' _

Suddenly, a hunched shinobi of the Sound donned with what looked like a large, fuzzy cape and bandages leaving nothing but one eye uncovered leaped past the crowd of genin and into the air towards Kabuto.

_'Dosu!'_

"Dosu" lifted a shielded arm. Instantly Sakura remembered his affinity for sound-jutsu. She frowned but stayed put, not wanting to put any attention on herself where it wasn't needed.

Kabuto evaded the Sound ninja's punch, leaping back and grinning. The rookie nine collectively gasped, with the exception of Sasuke.

His lenses cracked, falling into pieces on the floor.

_'He's just as fast as I remembered..'_

"Now wait a minute," muttered Sasuke. "He evaded it perfectly, I saw it!"

"It must've come closer than it looked..." Shikamaru replied, furrowing his brows.

The gray-haired shinobi then proceeded to vomit, inducing several grimaces around him. Sakura almost felt pity.

"Now hold on there," she said, stepping forward towards the sound ninja. "Do not forget, you are in Konoha, and you have the privilege of taking the Chunin exams held here. It would not be wise to attack a shinobi from the host country, now would it?"

"Why... yes, forgive me. I was only a little... restless." He leered at her; obviously taking her as nothing but a mere little girl, although he returned to his teammates. Sakura rolled her eyes.

Several people had directed their attentions towards her. The rosette felt guilty for not thinking twice about it - a few displays of maturity weren't too bad, right?

_'She's really... different,' _Shikamaru remarked to himself.

Sasuke's eyes did not leave Sakura for quite some time.

Suddenly, the room grew silent..

"It's time to begin. I am Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy." He scanned the room. "Good. Now listen up - there will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately."

Most of the genin looked outright horrified. Others, however, seemed bored. Zaku scoffed; "No fatal force? Now that's no fun."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Some people were just too arrogant for their own good.

Ibiki, on the other hand, paid the Sound ninja no heed. "We'll now proceed to the first stage of the Chunin exams. Hand in your forms to receive a number. You will be seated for your written test according to these numbers."

"W-written test?" Naruto stuttered, his voice trembling slightly.

Chunin proctors began to take their seats along the sides of the room; as everyone moved to hand in their forms, Sakura swiftly approached Naruto. In hushed whispers, she said, "Now listen up Naruto, I'm pretty - no, positively sure this test isn't to test our intelligence or how many answers we can get right, alright? There's bound to be a _trick _to this, so don't panic. Even if you can't answer a single question, just _don't panic. _Got it?"

Naruto nodded mutely, resulting in a pat on the back from his female teammate.

_'I couldn't have made it any more obvious than that...' _ The kunoichi received her number and proceeded to sit next to a dirty blonde-haired chunin.

Sakura tuned out Ibiki's instructions. 'I wonder if I should let Ino cheat off of me or not? I mean, in the end, it doesn't really matter if none of the questions are answered; only the final question matters...'

'But no, it's too risky. I don't want to change things too much; besides, what if she gets caught cheating off of someone else? Besides, Shikamaru deserves to be a Chunin.

Maybe I can even do something about Dosu and his teammates... or Orochimaru...'

"Begin!"

Sakura flipped her test paper around, rolling her eyes. It was so obvious the questions were not to be answered; mere genin did not have the calibre for it.

She jotted down the correct answer for the first question.

After thirty minutes had passed, Sakura was sure most people had caught on to the purpose of the examination. She could hear the faint barks of Akamaru, relaying the answers to Kiba, or the faintest creaks of a mirror amongst the tapping and scratching of pencils.

"Number 52, you're disqualified."

She sat back, admiring her work. No sooner than she had done so, she felt the sensation of Ino's clan jutsu.

_'Well, hello there Ino. What's up?'_

_'W-what the heck? **Sakura?**'_

_'Yup, it's me. How's my mind feel?'_

_'How the heck can you still be conscious?'_

_'Err.. it's a clan thing.' _While under the care of Tsunade Sakura had honed her Inner to become a deadly tool against jutsus that plagued the enemy's mind; thus, increasing her defences against most genjutsu and mind jutsu such as the Yamanaka clan's.

_'Wow... uhm, look I'm sorry about -'_

_'Nah, it's alright. It's a good thing you used your jutsu on me; I've completed all the questions.'_

"Number 94, disqualified!"

_'You were always the geeky one.'_

_'Hey!'_

_'Thanks, Sakura.'_

_'No problem.'_

_'How'd you get that answer?'_

_'Which one?'_

Sakura felt the oddest sensation of her body moving of its' own accord; her pencil tapped on question six inconspicuously.

_'Oh, you assume the enemy has a 132 degree attack range and thus calculate your chances of defense using this,' _she tapped the formula she had written down earlier, _'assuming they were to use projectiles.'_

_'Aah.. I see now.'_

"Number 12, disqualified!"

_'192, 45 kunai, 99 ninja, 334, 2.3, 91345.2, 12 days, 1:9, 10,' _Ino chanted repeatedly in Sakura's head.

_'Hurry up now, will you?'_

_'Alright alright!' _

Sakura smiled. Whether it was Ino or the real Sakura, not a single person would have been able to tell.

* * *

A figure sat on the roof of the exam center, dressed entirely in black. The mysterious unknown seemed to be rather proficient at hiding chakra signatures; for not a single person below seemed to detect any sign of a shinobi above.

He - or she - held a book in hand, leisurely flipping through the pages. The book was titled _Icha Icha Paradise. _

"Kakashi-sensei always held a particular fondness for this series... I wonder why."

* * *

And that concluuudes chapter fourteen. :) Until next time!


	16. Empty Canvas

Oh gosh, I've really been on a roll this week. I think this break has really helped me develop my passion for writing! I DO keep track of the all the hits, alerts, reviews - everything, and I appreciate them all! You'll be finding out who the mystery figure is! ;)

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Empty Canvas**

* * *

_**Inner Sakura**_

_General Thought_

An inconspicuous building stood erect on the outskirts of Konoha's wealthiest district. Even with the eyes of a Hyuuga, one could not see its' contents. There was barely a window in sight; and even then, the windows were tinted with a strange chakra that permitted only the person insideto peer out. On the tallest floor, a single ray of sunshine escaped into the building.

A small, round gray bird confined within a steel cage chirped noisily as the sound of creaking steps and the periodical thud of a cane grew more and more ominous.

Finally, a wooden door embellished with a brass curved handle swung open. An old man strode across the stone floor, footsteps interrupting the narrow sunlit strip of warmth.

"Kaiya," the hum of a cold, almost-admonishing voice reverberated around the walls. The bird obediently ceased its chirp and flew to the bottom of its' confining cage, near a small door.

A wrinkled, bandaged hand unlatched the door. The bird dutifully raised its' leg. String was threaded through a hole in a miniscule envelope and tied.

The master, leaning on his cane, hobbled towards a lever to his opposite. Brown robes swished around his feet as the bird flew subserviently next to the man.

A small "drawbridge" extended, revealing a hole in the wall which the messenger bird proceeded to exit through. The man watched the bird as it flapped its' wings, off into the bright day's sky.

Kaiya flew past several buildings, taking great care not to cross within sight of the Hokage Tower.

The bird's sharp eyes detected a figure sitting leisurely on the rooftop. It gracefully perched on a dark-clothed shoulder. Jet-black eyes met golden yellow. Pale fingers unravelled white string.

"Hello, Kaiya." A soft, genuine smile.

For the first time, the bird gently pecked the speaker's cheek.

The soft rustling of an envelope being opened, and a deep frown.

_'Oh no...'_

* * *

_'Okay, I think I've got it. Thanks, Sakura.' _Even in her own mind, there was a certain... awkwardness. A silence stretched between them. Sakura supposed that was why they had continued to hurl insults each other when they had reconciled their friendship; without the constant remarks of "Billboard-brow" or "Ino-pig", there were only severed ties that were too awkward to even mention.

_'Yeah... you're welcome.'_

_**'Ok, finally... now hurry up and get out!'**_

_'Whoa, what was that?'_

_'Uh.. that was me - what are you talking about Ino?' _Dread filled the pink-haired kunoichi; the less people who knew about Inner Sakura's existence, the better.

_'No I swear, that voice.. it was more echo-ey!'_

_'Must've been your imagination.'_

_'Alright... well, uh, later.' _Ino's presence left; suddenly, Sakura felt lighter, as if there had been a heavy weight in her head that she hadn't noticed until Ino's departure.

When Sakura had regained full control over her body, she frowned.

_'What was that all about? And didn't I activate a hibernation jutsu on you?'_

_'__**Ino-pig woke me up. Besides, what'd you make me sleep for?**__'_

_'Oh great. Look, the less you know about this better. I don't know what effect this'll have on my... uh, return trip.'_

_**'Oh, you mean back to the future.'**_

_'See what I mean? Time travel isn't even supposed to exist right now!'_

_'__**But I can be useful! If you must know I'm pretty smart!'**_

_**'**__You're talking to the older version of yourself here, which at the moment I'm not really fond of being... right. Well, anyway.. I don't have time to put you in that hibernation jutsu again so just try and annoy me as little as possible, alright? There's someone's mind I need to sabotage.'_

_'__**Hello? Why not use me?'**_

_'Use... you?'_

_**'Hell yeah!' **_

_'You know... that isn't a bad idea... at all...'_

With that note in mind, the corners of the rosette's lips curled into a smirk.

* * *

**Earlier...**

"Do not forget, you are in Konoha, and you have the privilege of taking the Chunin exams held here. It would not be wise to attack a shinobi from the host country, now would it?"

A single black eye met bold, vivid green ones. For a moment, Dosu felt an extremely faint ripple of chakra emanate from the girl. So maybe she wasn't as weak as she looked.

His lone eye narrowed. Had she performed any jutsu? No... a genjutsu, perhaps? He looked left to right, but only the sound of breathing, muffled whispers and the sight of the other genin greeted him.

"Why... yes, forgive me. I was only a little... restless." _This little pink-haired "kunoichi" thinks she got me, didn't she? Well she'll think again when her sorry arse - _They made eye contact again.

Dosu's eye widened in shock for the first time in a long while, not since he had met Orochimaru when he was orphaned on the streets of Otogakure.

He retreated to where his companions sat.

"You're not the kind to back down to a little girl, Dosu," jeered Zaku, snickering at his teammate.

But before his bandaged team member could reply, a man garbed in a long dark navy blue overcoat and a bandana of the same colour on his head appeared.

"It's time to begin. I am Ibiki Morino, your proctor. And from this moment, your worst enemy." He scanned the room. "Good. Now listen up - there will be no combat between candidates, no attacking each other without the permission of your proctor, and even then, the use of fatal force is strictly prohibited. Anyone who even thinks of messing with me will be disqualified immediately."

"No fatal force? Now that's no fun." Zaku scoffed, receiving a kick in the shins.

When Ibiki had ignored his comment and continued to speak, Zaku gradually lost interest.

"Psst! Kin!" Zaku, who had been perched on a wooden table right next to his female teammate, tried to garner her attentions. Frowning, she faced Zaku.

"What," she muttered irritably under her breath.

"Don't you think Dosu's acting a little... weird?" He subtly jerked his head towards the boy sitting calmly on the wooden chair. He twiddled his thumbs.

"Well of course he would, he got embarrassed by some little girl," she hissed, frowning. "The more you jeer at him the more pissed he'll get, and if we botch this mission - " Kin interrupted herself with silence, whipping her head around to face Morino, who stated, "You will be seated for your written test according to these numbers. Move along, now."

"Come on Kin," he muttered. "Ki-in!"

Kin and Dosu had already stood up to retrieve their numbers.

Gripping the white block the Chunin carelessly handed to him, Dosu took his assigned seat. A test paper lay in his spot with his number written on the top left hand corner.

He lay the small porcelain block engraved and inked with the numbers 79 in front of his desk.

A row to the left, a pair of jade eyes glanced at him. '_Maybe I can even do something about Dosu and his teammates... or Orochimaru...'_

"Begin."

The young Sound Ninja began concentrating, closing his eye as he focused on the vibrations of lead against paper.

Amongst them all, he distinguished a distinct pattern. Immediately he set to copying the same frequency of the vibrations.

After thirty or so minutes, he felt a gripping sensation. He frowned, stopped his writing, and pressed his fingers to his temples.

_'It... hurts...' _

He felt a sort of outer force of nature _grip_ him, as if someone was trying to pry his head open with their hands with much success.

Speaking of which, his senses had been... quite dull for the past half hour or so - he felt his sight blurring slightly when he had had perfect vision from birth; his hearing seemed a bit off, too, but he had put so much confidence into his acute sense of hearing that he had not noticed a thing.

He sniffed the air. He couldn't even smell that horrid dog's scent anymore.

_'Are my __**senses **__failing me? What in the world...'_

Dosu froze like ice; his back went rigid.

_'That green-eyed-!' _If was possible, his irises seemed to darken beyond his deep black shade.

His hands fell, softly, to the table.

He seemed so peaceful, he could have been asleep.

But a battle waged war in his head.

_**'Give up!' **_a young, long-haired Sakura with baggy dark green trousers and plain blue ninja sandals stood in an empty room with eight bunk beds and shoddy, run down floorboards. Crude drawings were taped to the wall. Thick gray paint had been slathered onto the wall carelessly, leaving spots of worn down white. Light spilled from a rusted window that looked like it hadn't been opened in years.

_'YOU!' _ Dosu stood up, grudgingly, panting as he glared at Sakura. _'You look funny.'_

_'__**Oh please, you won't be saying that after I've been through with you. Honestly, just give up.' **_Inner Sakura retorted, boldly. She let out the slightest tremble and frowned at her actions. Even if the Outer Sakura was missing, this wasn't the excuse to act weak! _This, _however, was Inner's Sakura true first "battle", and it was daunting. Before Dosu could pick up on her nervousness, however, she leered, _**'Guess where we are?'**_

The Sound Ninja furiously scoped his surroundings. Eerie, dreadful walls screamed at him with familiarity. A picture he had drew of himself and a "father and mother" stood glaring at him against the wall. His jaw dropped. _'T-the.. orphanage..'_

Inner Sakura had to bite back her sympathy. For a brief moment, she thought of her beloved Sasuke-kun, and the day he came back to class after the massacre. '_**I-Interesting.'**_

_'What jutsu is this?'_

_**'Oh, it's a special little jutsu nee-chan - I mean, I, made,' **_boasted Inner Sakura, grinning.

_'H-how?'_

_**'I've gradually weakened your senses, but not enough as to cause you to reach the state where you begin to lose consciousness in the... outside world. When the time was ripe, Sa- I - speeded up the process by increasing your sensitivity to pain. Welcome to your worst memory.' **_She stared at him fiercely, trying to determine whether her little fear-increasing speech had any effect. When her victim did not reply, she frowned at him. _**'What're you..?' **_The genin seemed to be looking at a point behind her with unhindered fear manifesting in his eye. She glanced back. _**'Ah..' **_She stepped to the side, dodging a plump old woman just as she stormed across the room.

_'DO-SU, YOU LITTLE BRAT,' _the lady screamed, pulling a bat from behind her back. _'Give - back - that - apple,' _she seethed.

_'Wait, I - I don't - please -' _

_'I'll BEAT it out of you, then!' _she snarled. _'Make you retch if you have to... and then lock you up in the closet for a WEEK! Then we'll see if you'll steal from the kitchen ever again!'_

_'T-that wasn't my fault,' _he pleaded, almost whispering to himself, _'I was so hungry, I'd gotten punishment for weeks last time and I was starving-'_

The woman took the wooden bat and beat him square across the chest. Immediately, he flew across the room and slammed against a wooden door. He slumped to the ground.

Just as he fell, the scene vanished, dissolved into a nothingness. Only an empty blackness remained.

Inner Sakura stood in silence for several minutes, eyes wide with shock.

_'__**They.. beat him? For stealing food?' **_She clenched and unclenched her fists. _**'That's just so.. unfair.'**_

A young hand wiped away hot tears. _**'Enough's enough, Sakura. There's not much time left.'**_

* * *

_'Listen up, Sakura,' _the older Sakura had lectured to her. _'This sort of genjutsu is based off the Uchiha clan jutsu Tsukiyomi, only less deadly. You know what it is, r-?'_

_**'Yes,' **_Inner Sakura replied quickly, sounding appalled as if she could not believe she was even being asked whether or not she knew an _Uchiha _clan jutsu.

_'Okay, well... like the Tsukiyomi, it nullifies the senses except for nocioception, or pain, which it amplifies. Then, instead of literally putting the victim through a living hell, or anything else the user wishes, the victim is limited to experiencing their most painful memory, whether it be physically or mentally agonizing. This is amplified until the victim is rendered "mentally unconscious" - basically in a sense, temporarily brain dead until the user wishes to leave the victim's head. Then the user is free to control the victim.'_

_**'Wow... the future me really is strong! I'm awesome!'**_

_'The problem with this jutsu is that if the opponent is too strong, he or she may be able to withstand the jutsu, and will be able to reverse the jutsu's effects onto me if I'm not careful. It's probably useless against anyone who's stronger than a Chunin. Unlike the Yamanaka Mind-Body Disturbance Technique, I have to maintain eye contact for a certain period of time, and the victim will be able to identify me, so I can't remain anonymous. Oh, and did I mention it's also a huge chakra burner? I'll be practically wiped out after this. It's a big reason why I hardly ever used it after I developed the jutsu.'_

_**'Oh. Why'd you develop the jutsu in the first place, then?'**_

_'You know... now that I think about it, I don't really know. After Sasuke... uhm, something happened and I began to feel... depressed. But, you know, I still held hope. So maybe, maybe if things were better again, I could teach him the jutsu, and it would help him in the future - after all, most Uchiha clan jutsus are -'_

_**'They're hell on the eyes, I know,' **_Inner Sakura snickered. _**'I wasn't Ino's best friend for nothing, you know.'**_

_'Yeah...' _Sakura reminisced of days when she still held the burning hope of Sasuke's "ultimate" return, of days stowed away in the library or gaining access to Konoha's shinobi database. Looking back, she felt mildly embarrassed for her childish hopes and dreams. She pushed these memories to the back of her head._ 'Okay, I'm going to send you in there, alright? So in case Dosu's stronger than we thought, and this backfires, I'll be here to fend him off. I've pretty much been keeping him stable for the moment - I haven't induced any pain so it won't start until I feel like it. You ready?'_

_'__**Yup.'**_

* * *

"Number 79, you're disqualified."

Dosu slowly but surely came back into consciousness. "W-what?" His single eye widened. He had been staring at the paper of his neighbour so obviously that it had been incredible that he had not caught himself.

"You're disqualified, Number 79. Please leave with your teammates."

"No way!" Kin shouted, slamming her palms on the table. Her pencil rolled off the laminated surface of the desk, toppling onto the floor. "You made a mistake!"

Dosu clenched his fists. He rose up swiftly, knocking his chair to the stone hard floor in the process. Then he pointed an accusing finger towards Sakura. "She cast a... a genjutsu on me."

"I did not!" hissed Sakura, looking "outraged". A short-lived pang of guilt flooded through her, but she quashed those feelings immediately. She had done far more ruthless, horrible deeds, being a murderer protected by the law and all. Besides, there were greater things at stake, and if she wanted to succeed she would have to do whatever it took to save what Team 7 could have been. It was all about the big picture.

A proctor chunin scoffed. "You were clearly copying off your neighbour, Number 79. And note that we do not take kindly to false accusations. Now, _leave._"

"Dosu, I can't believe you!" Zaku bellowed, standing up as well.

A kunai whizzed past Dosu's face, placing itself inches between Zaku's fingers. Slight trembling betrayed the calm facade the dark-haired Sound genin had built up, shielding feelings of fury. He stalked off, slamming the door open. Kin and Dosu quietly followed in his wake, their footsteps beating the rhythm of their sad defeat.

_**'I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry...'**_

_'Hey... you alright?'_

Inner Sakura did not reply. Instead, she returned to her dormant state.

"I will now give you the tenth question. Put down your pencils."

* * *

"You asked for me?" A figure knelt several feet apart in front of a heavily robed man. They stood in some obscure location - a small chamber lit with torches that could be accessed through an underground passage.

"...Yes. I've received intelligence that you've been acting quite... odd lately. I thought the training was a success, but apparently not."

There was a time when endless training and missions had seemed to be all that life had encompassed, but no more. "My apologies. It will not happen again... Danzou-sama."

"It better not. I need you to be in perfect condition for the assignment I've given you." He threw a scroll, wrapped by a thin leather string. "Here."

The scroll was picked up gingerly. The kneeling figure rose and began to untie the string.

* * *

The door behind the exam tables swung open, revealing Kankuro in front of a Chunin proctor.

"Just in time," said Ibiki. "I hope you found your trip to the bathroom... enlightening."

Kankuro returned to his seat. Sakura scowled. '_Now that I think about it, didn't we meet them before the Chunin exams last time? Perhaps our delay at the Land of Waves caused us to miss our opportunity...' _

"Oh, but before I give you the question, let me tell you one thing. You can choose whether or not you wish to take it."

"What do you mean, whether or not we wish to take it?" Kiba snarled. "Are you kidding me? Of course we do!" Akamaru gave a bark of agreement.

"If you choose not to take the question, you will get a 0, regardless of your answers to the other nine questions. Of course, this means that your entire team will fail. But," he continued, interrupting several outbursts, "provided that you do take the question, and do not know the answer, not only will your team fail, but you will no longer have the privilege of taking the Chunin exams, ever again."

For the briefest of moments, silence fell upon the room. Then a great cacophony of noises struck the vicinity.

Sakura rested her chin on her palm, blowing stray pink hairs away from her face.

When most of the disarray had died down, a young genin shouted, "But that isn't fair! You can't just take away our right to - "

"Fair? When is life ever fair? In the shinobi world, _nothing_ is fair. And besides, like I've stated, the Chunin exam is a privilege. _Not_ a right. If you're not confident enough, then by all means, skip it and try again next year." Ibiki let out a low chuckle, tucking his hands in his pockets and gazing at each of the genin.

"Now, if you wish to not answer the question, raise your hand."

Silence overtook the room again. And then -

"I can't do it. I'm spent. I'm sorry, guys..."

"Number 52, 102, and 129, you are disqualified."

As three genin stood up, several others began raising their hands. A wave of genin seemed to exit the room, all looking quite frightened, yet relieved at the same time.

Sakura, who sat two rows directly behind Naruto, narrowed her eyes. _'You endured once, Naruto, you can do it again...'_

"Any more?" Ibiki looked almost... amused.

Ever so slowly, Naruto Uzumaki raised up his hand.

_'Naruto...' _the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan clenched his hands. Instinctively, he looked towards Sakura, who had been attempting to catch his eye. 'Believe in him,' she mouthed. Then she faced Naruto, smiling.

"I'll quit..."

* * *

"You wish for me to... become familiar with Sasuke Uchiha and his team members?" The voice carried emotion ever so slightly at the words "team members".

"Yes," replied Danzou, leaning on his wooden cane. "I would have required that you only get on good terms with the Uchiha child, but recent mission reports have proved to be quite... informative," a malicious smirk, "about a certain Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki."

"I see. What shall my purpose be?"

"Get to know them. Be their... _friend,_ if you will. I simply wish to gauge their current skill level, particularly that of the Uchiha's. You shall need a name, shall you not?"

"I ... suppose so. What shall I be referred to as?"

"...Sai will do."

* * *

Sakura gasped, gloved hands covering her mouth. "N-naruto?" she whispered.

"Numbers 34, 165, and -"

"I'll quit when pigs fly!" yelled Naruto, slamming his palm on the table.

Sakura slumped in her chair, letting out a relieved sigh. "You... idiot," she breathed.

"I don't care if I stay a genin forever... I'm not going to back down from a challenge, certainly not this one! You won't stop me with a single question! You know why? Because I'm gonna be the Hokage!" Beside the blonde, Hinata Hyuuga let out a relieved smile, looking up fondly at Naruto as he stood up in an act of courage.

"He's right," stated Sakura, as she stood up abruptly. "We're not giving up!" As Naruto looked back at Sakura, she gave him a reassuring grin of support.

"Hn." Sasuke, too, stood up, pushing his chair back as he met his companions at eye level. "We're staying." The three - or rather, Sakura and Naruto, exchanged encouraging smiles while Sasuke let the tiniest of smirks slip past his calm demeanour.

Many of the others in the vicinity stared, awed, at the three members of Team 7 who had audaciously stood up as a symbol of their courage. Soon, murmurs of agreement sounded through the room - "That's right!" or "We can do this!" was echoed by many.

Ibiki Morino laughed. _'That kid... he actually managed to raise everyone's spirits... no one seems to be wavering, either.' _Several of the chunin proctors nodded at him in affirmation.

"Well, I don't even really need to ask anymore, do I? If that case... I admire your determination. All 78 of you have passed the first exam."

"WHAT!" yelled Naruto, losing all pretence of his earlier bravado.

"Wait a minute, what about the tenth question?" someone pointed out, looking overwhelmingly confused.

Their proctor laughed heartily. "Why, don't you see? Your decision to stay was the answer to the tenth question!"

_'Typical Ibiki,' _Sakura mused, beaming.

* * *

"Sai... that's a nice name." The torchlight illuminated the features of a young boy, not yet fourteen, with jet black hair and a pale, near-light grey skin. He gave a low bow; then, poofed away. He arrived on a wooden dock of a rather large lake, the wooden posts covered with damp moss.

A breeze travelled through the afternoon air, past thin wisps of hair skimmed over the bridge of the young boy's nose and ink-black eyes. He took a seat on the edge of the dock, retrieving a sketchbook and brush from his bag. For a moment, he was caught by his reflection, which revealed his figure, clothed in a high-collared black vest and pants. A deep grey strip of satin cloth embedded with the Konoha shinobi plate was tied around his arm, hiding the ANBU Root tattoo near his shoulder.

He picked up a lone pebble and tossed it with pinpoint accuracy into the water, creating a disturbance upon his picture-perfect reflection. Ripples distorted his image; twisting and turning limbs and clothes. Then he sat down, resting the bound book onto his lap.

"A nice name indeed," he muttered, as an afterthought. A fake smile gave way to a real one.

* * *

All 78 of the genin were ushered out of the room. Naruto and Sasuke, having been seated in the front half of the room, were permitted exit first. Sakura, on the other hand, was located at the tail of the crowd. She made no haste to catch up to her teammates, however. The sense of excitement and adrenaline that had filled her veins had drained away, leaving the battered mind of a 16-year-old girl in her 12-year-old body.

Exiting the glass doors, Sakura felt a wave of déjà vu that hit her like nausea. She had gotten used to these sensations over the weeks, but it didn't help that she was most likely the first to ever attempt to mess around with time. Sighing, she travelled down flights of stairs and exited the building to see her teammates waiting for her outside the doors of the exam centre. If she was surprised by the gesture, she did not display it.

"Thanks for waiting, guys," Sakura beamed at the two boys. She was pleased to note they seemed to be an a truce, albeit a temporary one. "Well... I guess we did it."

"We certainly did," replied Sasuke. Now that the first segment of the Chunin exams were over, he seemed slightly less perturbed, if not comfortable.

"Hell yeah!" exclaimed Naruto.

Without warning, the rosette enveloped her teammates in a hug, Naruto looking almost jubilant while the quieter boy of the team looked somewhat peeved. Sakura was pleased to note that he tolerated her touch, however, and simply laughed at his boyishness. Their success, no matter how miniscule, combined with the fact that two of her most important people were right there in her arms, comforted her.

At last, when she let go, much to the relief of her male companions, Kakashi shunshined in front of them, tucking his familiar orange book into his ninja pouch. He graced them with a smile that formed under his mask. "I see you three are getting on quite nicely," he commented. "As congratulations for passing the first segment of the chunin exams, I'll treat you three to Ichiraku's. How does that sound?"

Naruto's eyes widened; so much, in fact, that it almost seemed comical. "Really, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Why yes, of -"

"YES!" The hyperactive blonde yelled, fist pumping the air. Suddenly, he calmed himself down, astonishing his team members. "It's funny actually... I've never eaten ramen with someone else before besides Iruka-sensei," he confessed, scratching the back of his head nervously, but looking quite contented all the same. He began to head towards the direction of his beloved ramen stall, looking perfectly calm and not in the least bit the over-excited Naruto one was normally acquainted to on a daily basis.

"Come on you guys," he shouted, not looking back. "We want to get rest for tomorrow too, after all - we have the second exams!"

"Yes, yes," Kakashi replied, trailing behind the Uzumaki genin.

Sakura remembered the first time she had encountered Naruto in a bout of maturity. It had been a turning point in the way she had viewed Naruto as a person; no longer was he the 'dead-last' she had always believed him to be, but rather, a person with his own genuine feelings. She was ashamed to admit, however, that she hadn't treated him any better despite her improved respect for the blonde. She began to follow her teammates as well -

"Wait," Sasuke murmured, his tranquil aura, too, giving way to seriousness.

Sakura did not comment on his sudden change in attitude. "Yeah?" she offered, instead. For a moment she looked into his midnight black eyes - then she quickly redirected her attention on her sensei and teammate whom were walking steadily away. She did not like the tone of his voice, especially when they were sharing a one-on-one conversation like they were now. It reminded her of... a different Sasuke.

"That... Sound ninja, the one that accused you earlier," he began. "He didn't seem like the kind of person who'd get caught for something as mundane as peeking at his neighbour's test paper."

"What about it?" Sakura retorted, a little too quickly for someone who was supposedly innocent. She fiddled with the thick straps that held her kunai pouch to her thigh.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "You _did _do something, didn't you?"

The kunoichi crossed her arms, attempting to quell the hint of fear she always seemed to have around her stoic teammate. "So what if I did?" She replied, her tone taking on the defensive. _'I don't see what's the problem here... shouldn't he be happy I eliminated some of our competition?' _

"You're not as annoying," he mumbled quietly, directing his gaze towards Sakura's braid.

"What?" Sakura frowned.

Raising his voice, he continued, "Whatever you did... it was pretty good." His eyes returned to look directly at Sakura's. The Uchiha then proceeded to stuff his hands into his pockets and stiffly follow his sensei and aspiring Hokage of a teammate.

Jade eyes stared at his back, not in adoration, but rather in contemplation, for the remainder of their trip to Ichiraku.

* * *

Following the day's earlier events, Shikamaru had immediately proceeded to his dearly loved cloud-watching position. Luckily, the spring season had brought with it additional hours of sacred daylight; whereas normally the sun would have already made its descent past the sky, it still lay in plain sight, for all to see.

It was a relief to get away from the company of others every now and then, especially with teammates as rowdy as his.

_'Although,' _he supposed, unable to resist a discreet snicker, _'I suppose Team 7's worse off for Sasuke, what with being in a team with an avid fangirl and Naruto, of all people.' _

But then again, Sakura couldn't exactly be labelled as a Sasuke fangirl anymore, if her recent actions were anything to go by. For one, she certainly seemed far more composed around the Uchiha prior to the Chunin exams... perhaps time away from other Uchiha-mistress-wannabes had cooled down her inner "troublesome woman".

The young Nara groaned. He had came here specifically to rid himself of his bothersome thoughts and yet he was plundering his mind with unwanted notions.

"I wish I could just empty my mind," he sighed, pulling his arms backwards, similar to that of a backstroke motion, and stretching deeply, arching his back.

"You look like a cat," murmured a quiet feminine voice to his left.

"Wha - oh. Hi." He raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be celebrating with your teammates?"

"Well, to be frank, I feel like I've had enough enough ramen for a lifetime." From the number of times she had frequented Ichiraku's in her life, she might as well have.

"That guy... still the same as always, huh?" Shikamaru chuckled, returning his gaze to the distant clouds.

"You could say that," she tittered in reply. It was a light, cheery noise... like his mother's. Like when she wasn't being...

"I'm not so troublesome now, aren't I?" Sakura chirped, patting down some grass and casually shooing a grasshopper before taking a seat next to Shikamaru.

"Perhaps."

The kunoichi laughed, a louder, boyish one this time. Although Shikamaru Nara didn't know Sakura Haruno very well, he felt that this laugh suited her better.

"I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

For the first time in quite awhile, Sakura knocked on her front door. She was not in the least offended when her mother had been quite surprised to see her enter with a "civilian method" - more often than not these days, she utilised the balcony conveniently placed outside her room.

"Sakura!" The Haruno matriarch exclaimed, hugging her precious daughter gleefully. She did not ask her precious daughter as to why she had decided, today of all days, to enter through the front door.

Sakura and her mother were very close that way, although it would've taken a lot for the twelve year old Sakura Haruno to admit it. She quickly stowed away the stab of guilt for mistreating her parents.

"How was the Chunin exams? Are you a Chunin yet?"

Sakura graced her mother with a sweet, understanding smile. "No, not yet mother, the exams are divided into three components. But... I passed the first one."

"I'm proud of you, Sa-ku-ra," her mother replied. "...You've really grown, haven't you?" She wiped a small tear. "Children... oh how fast time flies..."

"Mom, I'm only si-twelve!" Sakura laughed nervously, hoping her mother's state had hid her minor slip-up.

The Haruno mother seemed to widen her eyes. Then, only a moment later, she grinned at her child. "You really have grown... only weeks ago, you'd have told me how much of an adult you were, you know?"

"Yes mother," Sakura muttered, rolling her eyes amid a smile. No sooner than she had tucked her gloves and elbow-guards in her ninja pouch did the Haruno patriarch exclaim, "Sakura! My favourite little girl!"

"Your only little girl, Dad!"

"Doesn't stop me from calling you my favourite, now does it?"

* * *

After finally finding solace in her room and tossing her ninja pouch onto her pink sheets, she picked up the legendary photo frame of Team 7.

_Naruto, Kakashi... _she traced each of their faces.

_Sasuke..._

"Sakura."

Immediately, Sakura whipped around to face her opponent, pulling out three slivers of senbon from underneath the hem of her loose dress.

Emerald eyes widened.

"S-sai?"

* * *

end of chapter 15!

**Just a note** about Inner Sakura's little "invasion" into Dosu's mind - I wanted to show Sakura's affinity/talent for genjutsu (which I'll be focusing on rather than her abilities in ninjutsu/taijutsu), which was never really developed in the anime/manga. But also, I wanted to show how different Sakura is and how much she's matured. Inner Sakura, although much more confident than the regular 12 year old Sakura, is still as naive and young, and the fact that someone else could be treated **so **horribly besides Sasuke (mind you, she hadn't really known about Naruto at that point) is still pretty daunting. A main sort of theme I want to emphasize in Unwinding Time is that Sasuke isn't the only one who has suffered; so have many - but there are different ways of dealing with the pain, which is also a part of what Sakura's here for, to essentially guide him towards the right path and to accept the past. I'm thinking of giving Inner Sakura a bigger role in the story, too - what do you guys think?

The scene with Shikamaru and Sakura was perfect one-shot material if I do say so myself! Anyway, were you surprised by the mystery figure? :) I hope it was a pleasant one! I think Sai was a great addition to Unwinding Time; not only is there room for lots of character / friendship development but also he'll be a great asset in Sakura's mission.

Until next time!


	17. Soaring Eagles

Unfortunately school's back, so hopefully I'll come around to updating sometime soon (I'll be writing constantly, just bit by bit). I'm planning on making slower updates while increasing the length of each chapter as compensation. Enjoy! :)  
**note **- genres for this story have officially been changed to Action/Adventure + Romance. I feel that I want to focus more on Sakura's growth as a kunoichi and her mission first and put Romance second, both because everyone's technically still very young and it'll be quite a while before you'll be seeing some outright romance.)

**Unwinding Time**

**by Reveri**

**Standard Disclaimer Applies**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Soaring Eagles**

* * *

_**Inner Sakura**_

_General Thought_

"S-Sai?" Sakura had spoken faster than her mind could react. Jade eyes narrowed, taking several hesitant steps backwards. The three senbon she had taken out earlier were still positioned between her fingers, ready to strike.

_'He might not be Sai - I could've mistaken him for someone else,' _she reminded herself._ 'Even if he is...'_

"Hello," the boy responded, his voice treading lightly as if to test Sakura. He gazed at her straight in the eye.

"...What are you doing here? Who are you?" She shot out her reply as soon as the boy had spoke. Her tone was demanding, leaving no room for argument or excuse.

Sai, or whoever he was, looked confused. "You've just said my name," he pointed out. He did not answer her former command.

"So... you're Sai, then." The kunoichi did not let down her guard. She remained poised to strike, senbon glinting in the moonlight.

"...Yes." His eyes caught sight of the senbon, as if he'd only noticed them just now. Under the moon's glow, they glistened the strangest tint of violet, not at all the regular metallic silver shade. "You poisoned those?" He enquired curiously. His eyes displayed no intimidation; rather, he seemed intrigued.

Sakura scowled. He was attempting to determine her skill. _'Perhaps... Root is aware of my recent abnormalities? But that doesn't make sense...' _"Why do you ask?" she retorted haughtily. "I haven't forgotten about my previous question, you know."

"I'm sure." The young Sai pulled a fake smile, causing the pinkette to grimace. She had always been uncomfortable with his attempts to mimic a natural smile, leading off to a bad start between her and the artist-nin when they had first met. It didn't help when he'd thought to call her Ugly or hag, either...

Irritated, the kunoichi lifted her senbon slowly, ready to release -

Completely ignoring Sakura's actions, Sai continued. "Sasuke Uchiha seems to lust for revenge."

His words caught her completely off-guard. She flinched, her hold on the sharp needles loosening. She muttered string of curses at her subconscious mistake. "I - er - yes, he's very handsome and adorable," Sakura attempted to pull off a deeply-enamoured expression, hoping it would suffice. _'This Sai is different. He might still be working for Danzo. I mustn't make him suspicious.'_

Sai was a member of Root, however, trained to hone their ninja instincts since they were toddlers, and so he immediately caught on to the girl's reaction. "I see. Sorry, hag," and this time he gave a genuine smile, "but I needed to make sure."

"Wait - what?" This time Sakura lowered her senbon and returned to a neutral standing position, although she couldn't help but twitch her eyebrow at the boy's favorite description of her. "...Sai? Is.. that really you?"

"Yes."

"Prove it." _'He could still be using genjutsu of some sort, I know I'm still quite lacking in that area..."_

"You are a formidable apprentice of the future Fifth Hokage. Dickless" - Sakura winced at the reminder of her deceased teammate - "assisted me in remembering my brother, Shin. But of course, I could have told you that if I'd bothered to probe your mind properly." He stuck his hand in a small pouch, looking for something. He pulled out a very familiar book, with a grey-haired boy on the cover. Sai flipped to the middle of the book and tilted it to face Sakura.

"Look."

The completed image of Sai's self-proclaimed brother and companion Shin holding hands with Sai met the pinkette's eyes. They were both grinning.

She looked up.

"Why did you come here?" She didn't mean her room.

"Tsunade-sama's orders, I'll explain. Have you received a message from her yet? She was... unable to replicate the messaging scroll she had given to you."

Tilting her head curiously to the side, she replied, "Yes, just this morning. Why?"

"What did it say?" _'Is she aware of the Godaime's condition?'_

"The true catalyst behind the massacre was Uchiha... Madara," muttered Sakura, clenching her fists and gazing dejectedly at the carpeted floor.

Sai paused, having just been considering taking a step closer to the kunoichi. His gaze dropped to a photo frame of Team Seven. He knew of Uchiha Madara; in fact, prior to his departure, he had been debriefed about it.

"Nothing else?" He questioned simply.

A pink eyebrow raised. "So you've already been told... no, I haven't."

_'So she doesn't know.' _"Yes. Check your messaging scroll."

"Why?" Sakura queried, although she abided anyway, pulling out the jet-black device. When her former teammate did not reply, she unwrapped it herself.

Emerald eyes widened in genuine surprise. "W-what? But I didn't even... I felt nothing..."

The Root ninja's eyes widened, too, although he made a far smaller show of it. _'If hag wasn't able to detect a message, then the Godaime has already left the living world...'_

* * *

_"When the time comes, I'll tell Sakura myself... D-Don't tell her about my current state," the blonde croaked. The Sannin had had a reputation for their flawless, agile bodies and formidable skill despite their age. Whereas most shinobi retired nearing their fourties, their bodies battered and beaten by decades of combat and physical strain, Konoha's three had continued to stand. They were certainly forever youthful._

_But things were different now, and two of the Legendary Sannin had fallen. The final, Tsunade Senju, lay bedridden, her chakra unable to hide the lines of age marring her face. No longer could she ignore the fact that the time for her petals to wilt had long come. The shinobi's end._

_The former Root member stood before her tall and strong, not yet hindered by the test of time. "I understand."_

_"You will... stand by her side, relay the support I cannot give her physically. Also..." a cough. "You will investigate Danzo."_

_"Yes, Godaime-sama."_

_"I... am quite sorry to have to assign you this mission, Sai. You may be a part of ANBU, but this is still not a mere child's job..." The dying hokage inhaled and exhaled deeply, gazing out at the setting sun._

_"I don't understand," Sai admitted. "A mission is a mission. It must be fufilled."_

_Honeyed eyes pierced jet black ones. "If I'd known earlier about Root, I'd have..." Tsunade coughed into her hand. When she lowered it, dark crimson blood stained her palm and lips._

* * *

Sakura finished inspecting the new message Shizune had written for her.

"It's... odd," Sakura muttered. "Lately, Shizune's been the one writing the messages. I suppose Tsunade-shishou is busy, though..." She wrapped the scroll carefully, setting it on her clothes' drawer. "I hope she succeeds in her trip."

"Trip?"

"Yeah, she said she's taking a several-month trip and won't be able to contact me."

* * *

_I'll tell Sakura myself... D-Don't tell her about my current state... or I'll pummel you down to the ground floor._

* * *

Sai let out a resigned sigh, gazing out Sakura's window at the moonlight buildings ahead."I still do not understand how people work very well," he muttered softly to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing of great importance. But we need to talk."

"We are," Sakura could not help but retort.

"It is said that the sentence is generally stated when one wishes to take a serious turn in a conversation," Sai replied, no doubt referencing Konoha's limited supply of books instructing one on the arts of friendship.

The kunoichi snorted. "Alright... let's head towards the balcony. I could use some fresh air."

"It's too open, we could be heard. Especially since Danzo specifically requested for me to -" he spluttered. "The curse seal," he muttered, when Sakura sent a questioning look. "I no longer have it, but now that Danzo is alive again the remnants of it still react to his chakra."

Sakura nodded, frowning and turning to face the window to check for any possible eavesdroppers. When there were none, she continued, "This'll be a problem."

"Yes." He deftly performed several hand seals, a faint wave of chakra passing by Sakura, who shivered at the sensation. "The room should be secure from eavesdroppers. Let down the blinds and turn on a light."

"Okay..." Sakura complied, doing as the thirteen-year-old Sai instructed her. When she had finished, Sai had taken a seat on a small wooden chair accompanied by a desk stacked with Leaf Academy textbooks and several library books Sakura had borrowed as of late.

For several moments, the constant ticking of a clock and Sakura's muffled footsteps as she took a seat on the fluffy pink covers of her bed filled the room.

"So..." Sakura trailed off. She shook her head, as if to regain her composure. "I'm glad you're here, Sai. I really could use a friend who knows about all this right now."

Ever since her return, she'd been surrounded by those she'd loved and cared for - a time the most of her worries were being scolded by her teacher. But now things were undeniably different, and she could not help but feel a certain detachment towards her teammates.

Because, no matter how much she loved and savoured their company for the time being, she couldn't tell them. And when the initial rush of adrenaline wore off, the weary lifestyle of constant avoidance of suspicion and action from the shadows was bound to wear anyone out.

"Friend," Sai echoed. He had said it once or twice more, as if the word was foreign to his lips. "I suppose we _are _friends," he affirmed.

The pinkette couldn't help but stifle a chuckle. Although Sai had come a long way from the days of fake smiles and empty feelings, he still had much to experience. "How are things...there?"

"To be honest, not very well," Sai replied, truthfully. "Konoha is at a great disadvantage at the moment. Many nations no longer consider Konoha to be a threat. For now, everyone has merely been... "picking up the pieces," as Shizune-san mentioned."

If one had assumed this would've crushed Sakura's hopes, they were wrong. "When we complete this, no one needn't ever remember this again," the pinkette stated boldly, her eyes hardening under the dim light of a small lamp. "When we return, everything will be what it should've been." '_All I need to do is to defeat Orochimaru tomorrow in the exams, or at least prevent him from approaching Sasuke until the second stage is over. Then I can go back...'_

Sai raised an eyebrow. _'Why did Tsunade-sama leave out that information too?' _"I suppose."

"Speaking of which," Sakura disregarded Sai's expression, "When did you arrive?"

"When you left off for Wave Country," Sai stated matter-of-factly. "I did some research." He held up an orange book.

"Icha...Icha..?" Sakura crossed her arms, frowning at her teammate's choice of "novel".

"Kakashi-sempai had recommended it to me," Sai interrupted quickly, wincing in remembrance of Sakura's chakra-infused punches. "And also ANBU's archives."

"Aa..." Sakura responded, her arms falling to her sides, instead making note to lecture her teacher sometime in the future.

"I'd only approached you now because it seemed like the right time. I am to be... on good terms with you and the others."

"What! Did this happen last time?" Sakura jumped out of her seat, a small white rabbit plush toppling to the ground.

"Yes. Only... last time, I was merely asked to befriend Sasuke-san and Dickless. Sasuke-san knew the village would have monitored him closely, him being the last Uchiha and all, and thus interacting with him would have been difficult. It didn't matter, though. Kakashi-senpai prevented me from approaching them. The mission failed from the start."

_'How had I not noticed that? Surely I would've known in the past if it had to do with Sasuke...'_

_**'Whatever happened, we probably didn't pay too much attention to unless it was Sasuke-kun talking,' **_Inner added. She'd been subdued the entire day, only adding comments every now and then.

The pinkette grimaced. _'Probably...'_

"I suggest you keep a low profile -"

"That's what I've been doing!" she retorted exasperatedly.

"Danzo-" he coughed haphazardly, his mistake earning him a painful jolt. When the heaves subsided, a hint of emotion on the artist-nin's normally emotionless visage came in. _'Is that... worry? Sai...'_

"I... understand," she finally stated, partially because she knew Sai was right, but moreso the fact that her teammate's concern for her had humbled her to a certain degree.

"Good." Sakura shifted in her seat awkwardly while Sai began to take an interested look at the contents of her desk. A silence descended upon the two again; despite their familiarity, they had never quite been on incredibly close terms.

"Do you love him?"

"W-what?"

"Do you love Sasuke Uchiha, hag?"

"Why..." Sakura's green eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You... once told me it was love that gave Naruto-kun power," he said quietly. "But when it comes to you and Sasuke-san, what you have told me doesn't seem to match."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The kunoichi was quite uncomfortable with the sudden change in topic; she squirmed in her seat. _'Calm down Sakura, it's not like he hasn't asked these kinds of questions without realizing what they actually mean before...'_

"You and Naruto-kun have never considered giving up on Sasuke-san in the past. Dickless told me that his love for Uchiha-san was much like my... love for Shin, but your love for Uchiha-san was different." He paused to allow the pinkette to reply, but she did not, because she herself couldn't even come to terms with what the Uchiha meant to her anymore.

"Why is it that your love for Sasuke weakens you? He is the only person I have ever met that you spend tears instead of chakra on."

"He's... extremely important to me," the kunoichi whispered, moreso to herself than the Root member.

"Moreso than Naruto, who had been bullied by the entire village and orphaned but took it all in stride?" His tone was not angry, demanding, nor condescending; this, Sakura knew. It was only like Sai to confront Sakura about this for purely professional and/or curious reasons.

But she could not help but react angrily. "I... what do you know about relationships or love? You don't know anything, Sai. You shouldn't be talking." Sakura retorted angrily, a slight tremor passing through her.

"Friends help each other, even if it means telling them what they do not wish to hear," the Root member recited. "It's not only Sasuke you should be saving, hag. Konohais at stake. _Naruto is at stake."_

Sakura stared at Sai, ingesting his words. Then she suddenly brought her palm up to her forehead in defeat and sighed. "I... I'm sorry, Sai. That was out of hand."

"It's alright, I think. I do not blame you. I read in this book," Sai pulled out a thin red book, "this is a common reaction to being questioned personally." He flipped to his desired page. "See here, _common reactions include: anger, grumpiness, defensiveness -"_

"I think that's enough," said Sakura, who couldn't help but roll her eyes. Then she returned to seriousness. "I didn't truly mean that... you've come a long way, you know."

"It cannot be denied that I am indeed emotionally stunted... but thank you."

Sakura stood up from the bed and gave him a bear hug despite her petite form. Sai, feeling extremely confused, simply patted her back kindly, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the sensation. Much to Sai's relief, she soon let go, perhaps aware of his discomfort.

* * *

_Petite, pale arms embraced a small, equally pale infant. A tuft of jet black hair, the same shade as the long locks of the woman who held him, graced his head._

* * *

The artist-nin's eyes flared briefly. But his pink-haired teammate was too busy with her own thoughts to notice this rare event.

"I..." She paused. "Sasuke now... he isn't like Sasuke after he joined Orochimaru. True, he can be cold and stoic, but... he's not truly _evil,_ or anything. The things he called me - _annoying, weak_ - they were blunt, but they weren't false. It was one of the reasons I was so eager about this mission. All those years Naruto and I spent trying to knock some sense into him and bring him back home, we were digging for the Sasuke underneath all the desire for power and revenge. The... old Sasuke. Having him back right now, being able to come to the training grounds every day, seeing my team united and whole... it pleases me beyond words. And... if it means saving what could have been us, united as a whole, I'd gladly do this. Because I've slowly come to terms with the fact the Sasuke we once knew died a long time ago."

* * *

_"Word has been spreading like wildfire," Tsunade stated, her gaze steely and hands balled into fists. "Orochimaru has been slain by Uchiha Sasuke."_

_"W-what?" What had remained of Team Seven produced what would have been comical, identical gaping expressions._

_Naruto was the first to recover. "Baa-chan, that's great! Right, Sakura-chan?"_

_The pinkette nodded vigorously, her heart flaring, beating rapidly against her ribcage. "So... he's coming back, right -" suddenly, she halted. "Shishou?"_

_But the Godaime continued to frown, her mouth set in a grim line. "He..." She looked towards the jounin, Kakashi, who perhaps at least would not grace her with the same glaringly dejected look her favourite genin and chunin would be bound to give._

_However, even the years in ANBU could not lessen the blow of Tsunade's implication. "He's not coming back," the ex-ANBU finished._

_"...Yes."_

_Sakura froze, sending pleading looks toward her shishou, a blanket of dread surrounding her. "What? But..."_

_"Sasuke has joined the Akatsuki."_

_"N-no... no way!" the kunoichi gasped, knees shaking. She held onto Kakashi's sleeve for support, and for a moment, just a moment, the strong exterior Sakura had built since Sasuke's departure cracked, revealing the innocent, naive young girl she had once been._

_Kakashi would not bear to look at his student, could not, because he couldn't bear the disappointment he would see reflected in his own eye. Because deep down, he knew that if only he had focused more on teamwork, or even sent them back to the academy that fated day, this wouldn't have happened -_

_"It's no surprise, really..."_

_Sakura and Kakashi immediately directed their gazes towards the blonde teammate, who was unusually sombre._

_"He may have been part of Konoha," Naruto said quietly, gazing out the windows that revealed Konoha's vast claim over the land below. "But he will always be a part of the Uchiha." _

* * *

She directed her gaze to Team Seven's photo frame. Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.

"I think I've known for quite a while," she admitted.

"The Sasuke I knew wouldn't have killed Naruto," she clenched her fists, "wouldn't have watched his _best friend _die without -"

Sai gripped the pinkette's shoulder firmly. "Sakura."

Sakura sighed, lids covering green eyes, holding back the onslaught of salty, wet tears. "I'm sorry."

A light tapping noise suddenly caught the two shinobi's attention.

"W-what was that?"

Sai's hand fell from the girl's shoulder. "It's Kaiya," he replied cheerfully, as if it were common for people to tap on windows at night.

"Kaiya? A girl? What's she doing here?" _'More reinforcements from the future? But that's not possible -'_

"Not a girl," he lifted the blinds and slid open the glass window. A small bird perched on his outstretched fingertip. "A messenger bird." He gazed fondly at the small creature.

His gaze did not go unnoticed. "It's not often people respect the obedience of messenger birds," she treaded lightly.

Sai untied the string encasing a leaf-green message scroll bound to the bird's leg. "That's true," he replied, tucking the scroll into a small bag. '_Don't ask what this is_.' The words were unnecessary; shinobi grew up respecting privacy. "He was Shin's favourite bird. Always tried to set him free from Danzou...sama." And then he stopped, and looked Sakura hard in the eye, trying to convey what he could not put into words. "I saw him today. Shin."

"Oh," Sakura replied lamely. She had never really known much about Shin, other than the illustrations Sai had done of his "brother". A moment of guilt stabbed her chest - she had never bothered to ask Sai just what had happened between her teammate and the gray-haired Root member. "Are you... alright?"

"I... think so. I tried to do that - what you did earlier."

"You hugged him?"

"I tried."

Sakura smiled. "The hardest step is initiation. How did it feel?"

"I'm not sure I can describe it." He clenched the thick fabric of the shirt that covered the location of his heart.

"You don't need to... I can already tell." Sakura grinned.

* * *

_"It's not wrong to have emotions."_

_"It's... not?"_

_"Nope. I'd ask what your name is, but I know many don't remember. I remember mine, though - mine's Komatsu, but my Root code-name's Shin. Pretty awesome name, huh? Nice to meet you!""I wish I still remembered my name." A young boy, skin pale enough to be considered an unhealthy shade of grey, pouted, as he swung his legs on the dock. The orange flow of the setting sun enveloped him._

_His collarbone-length ash-haired companion ruffled the young boy's ink black hair, chuckling as he did so. "But a name's all __**I **__have. At least you have the memories."_

_"But I only have two. I don't even remember the faces, or who they were... what if they aren't even real?"_

_"You'll remember them," Shin's tone left no room for argument. "And then they'll come for you, and -"_

_"I won't leave without you. " Charcoal eyes displayed utmost sincerity. "I won't ever forget you."_

* * *

_"They finally gave me a name," He informed his fellow-Root companion hesitantly._

_"They'd better have given a good one," a menacing reply, no doubt ready to kill if his precious 'brother' had been named improperly._

_"Sai."_

_Shin looked, really looked, at his friend. "That's a fitting name, Sai." He ruffled his companion's black hair._

* * *

_I promised I wouldn't forget, didn't I? Look - see? It's us, on each cover."_

_"Us?" The word was echoed, hollowly, like it carried no meaning._

_"Yeah - we get closer to our dreams each page! Isn't that great?"_

_"Closer to our... dreams?" A look of confusion._

_"Shin...? What's... wrong?"_

_"I... don't know."_

* * *

_"He is a threat to the others. Emotions are crippling, terribly crippling. Shinobi are tools and servants to their master first and foremost. They musn't submit to emotions. Trim our... "roots"."_

_"Hai, Danzo-sama."_

* * *

_"Shin, I'm almost done... look, I'm at the page where we battled the samurai you always told me about, -"_

_"Shin... who is Shin?"_

_"Shin..? But... surely you must remember your real name, then - Komatsu!"_

_"That's not my name."_

* * *

_"What is your name, shinobi?"_

_"I have no name, for I do not exist. I live to serve Konohagakure from the shadows."_

_"That is correct. You will no longer need to perform missions under the Hokage - a name will no longer be necessary. From now on, you serve me and only me. No one shall know your identity, save the members of Root."_

* * *

_"I don't remember anymore..."_

_"Why did I draw this? Who is this person?"_

* * *

_I will remember, this time._

A small crow flitted through the trees of the Forest of Death. It chose to perch on a particularly thin branch, beady black eyes gazing intently upon the crowd of genin that had formed outside the chained fences humming with electricity.

Its shadow grew uncharacteristically large.

Before the bird was aware of any... unwanted companions, a large snake engulfed the crow with a single sweep of its head. Ink gushed from its mouth, dripping onto the bark below with a consistency thinner than blood. Irritated, the menacing creature spat out the jet-black liquid, slithering down the length of the tree, the width of its body almost enough to encompass the tree itself.

"There there, Ryousei," crooned Anko Mitarashi with a sly grin, perched on a branch herself. She brought out a stick of her favourite treat, sliding one dango ball out of its' wooden stick much like the snake had devoured its' ink-prey, licking her lips as she swallowed. "I'm sure you'll have many tasty little genin to devour upon once the exam starts. Save your appetite for then and quit preying on someone's attempt to spy on us, won't you?'

"Yesssss," the snake hissed. Upon closer inspection, one would have noticed the tell-tale jet black markings of a snake summon located at the base of its jaw. "Hurry up and let them in, now won't you, Anko-chan?"

"Just don't eat _all _of them, or Hokage-sama will have my neck," The special jounin added under her breath, although the admonished remark was half-hearted. "Just give them a bit of a scare, if you will. I'll desummon you in a couple of hours. Let them think twice about underestimating _Konoha's_ chunin exams."

"You alwaysss had an excellent ssenssse of humor..." The serpent slithered further into the depths of the dense shrubbery.

Anko, on the other hand, walked towards the nearest entrance gate, muttering, "seriously, what was Ibiki thinking, allowing so many puny little genins _pass..._" She leapt over the tall steel fence, not bothering to make use of the deactivation jutsu that would allow people to cross. In front of her stood the seventy or so genin that had passed, all forming small groups of their own as they gazed upon the intimidating sight before them with uncertainty. Upon seeing the exam proctor arrive, they all stood a little straighter.

"Hello everyone," she greeted cheerfully. No one replied, to which she let out an audacious smirk. "In front of you is what we like to call the Forest of Death... and you'll soon find out why."

* * *

If Sai was aware that one of his Beast Imitation drawings had just been destroyed within the confines of an ominous snake summon, he didn't show it.

He had slipped within the confines of an underground base, deep under Konoha's prided Hokage Monument. He shunshin'ed a mile away from a sealed entrance, his Ink Mist Technique hiding his entire figure and the translucent white clouds billowing from under his feet. Leaping to the ceiling of a narrow tunnel encased with ashen gray cement, he masked his chakra. Sai frowned as the prickling sensation of chakra being sucked from his body enveloped him.

The boy unzipped a cotton pouch, unfurling a long scroll one-handedly and dipping a brush in a pot of ink glowing the faintest of blues.

"Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation!"

Several mice leapt from the confines of the parchment. Their inky, beady eyes were focused on several seals, each stuck to a bone white ceramic tile strategically placed along the floor of the tunnel. They began to nibble on the edges of each seal gingerly, taking care to shred the black markings.

After several minutes, the mice evaporated like mist ascending the air. The black-haired artist-nin dropped to the ground, letting slip a shaky pant.

"He always favoured taking what was not his," Sai muttered, his tone showing great disapproval under his porcelain mask at the chakra suction tags embedded within the cement of ceiling. The chakra, once taken, would ultimately circulate through the system of tunnels, which would eventually be tested in several of Danzo's labs.

_'Now that I think about it, he is much like Orochimaru in that aspect...'_

Noting to inform Sakura of his suspicions later, he raced towards the entrance, where a large seal encased a smooth round stone barrier.

"The strength of a tree lies in its roots," he stated. The seal glowed and the ink dispersed, leaving a blank white sheet. Sai bit his thumb, swiping the digit across the sheet to form the kanji for _root_, his blood acting as his painting medium.

He slapped his outstretched palm onto the parchment, vivid blue chakra flowing from his fingers. They extended from his pallid fingertips, forming inky black lines that encased the surface of the rock.

"Kai!"

Rough stone and dusty tile gave way to polished wood and elegant marble, revealing a massive chamber of completed mission scrolls tucked neatly onto mahogany shelves, more and more yellow with age as one ventured towards the end of the room. The mixed scents of paper, ink, and the slightest hints of clear urethane spray paint wafting through the ventilated air radiated an aura of harsh rules and procedures. The blinding white light emanating from several lightbulbs added to the atmosphere.

Sai strode in, nodding curtly towards a masked Root member piling new, white scrolls in an orderly fashion on an empty shelf. Without further ado, he approached the tenth shelf, fingering the tightly wound edges of each scroll as he walked along.

_'Sunagakure diplomatic mission... unauthorized Iwa assassination... routine Clan District patrol...' _He frowned. _'I assume he found it risky to place them here.'_

"Looking for this?" a bright red scroll was dangled, centimetres from his nose. Sai glanced upwards, raising his eyebrows curiously to meet Shin's gaze. A curtain of grey locks hung upside down from the boy's head. "...Where did you find that?"

"Nowhere you need to know about," the boy grinned. He stood, feet connected by chakra to the wooden ceiling, heads mere inches apart from each other.

Sai grasped the scroll with his right hand, slowly putting the object in his back pouch without breaking eye contact.

"I figured you were looking for that." Sai pursed his lips, the equivalent of a deep frown on anyone else.

Shin continued, "Besides, a little... adventure was certainly in order." He retracted his hand and leaped from the ceiling, performing a quick flip in midair to land gracefully in front of Sai, smirking as he did so.

"What's up? You look troubled."

Automatically, Sai began analyzing each notion in his head, recalling Sakura's recommendation of recognizing his own emotions. But a gut feeling told him now wasn't the time nor place, and so instead he replied, "I suppose so."

Shin tilted his head in brief contemplation. "You've grown, Sai," he declared. Without further hesitation, he walked past the artist-nin, patting his companion on the back without waiting for a reply.

* * *

Sakura sat against the steady surface of an oak tree, staring at a map in hand. Like last year, each participant had been given an extremely simple map to go by to give each genin a relative idea of the terrain they were to be covering. A black circle outlined the entire Forest, numbers marking the locations of each entrance gate. Sakura traced number 12 with her index finger, moving along a strip of green, pausing at an all-too-familiar stream and tapping the spot. She hesitated for a moment before sighing and lowering her hands back down against her hips.

"Urgghh," she groaned. _'There are so many ways this could go absolutely wrong, and I'm still debating on whether or not I should eliminate Orochimaru...'_

_**'Nice to know they give chunin S-class missions on a regular basis in the future,' **_Inner retorted sarcastically, crossing her arms in annoyance.

_'Yeah, well_, _that's what happens when some S-class missing ninja turn your world upside down.'_

"Hey, Shirai, that bird looks... weird."

Sakura tuned in on what sounded like a female genin about her age, glancing over to the origin of the sound as she did so. A team of genin stood by a nearby tree, the female huddled over something Sakura could not see.

"I know you're a chakra sensory type and all, but do you really have to start pointing out each little chakra anomaly you see?"

"Oh shut up! It just seemed a little funny, that's all, I mean birds usually don't even have -"

"That's mine, thanks," Sakura interrupted, startling the three. Perched on each of her shoulders were two birds, much like the one the three were inspecting at the moment. "I suppose, uh, Mitsu... got lost."

"Bird-nin, huh? I don't see those too often, usually it's just dog-nin or -" The genin who had spoken, a sandy-haired male, was interrupted by the girl who had noticed the bird with an elbow to his stomach. Ignoring his wince, the female said, "Stop rambling, Shirai - anyway, he's all yours. Nice to meet you." She finished with a smile.

By the time Sakura had returned to her post by the oak tree, she had dispelled the light genjutsu she had placed around her shoulders. Taking care not to squish the bird, which had been surprisingly docile the entire time, the kunoichi opened an empty scroll and gingerly placed the bird on top.

The moment the bird came in contact with the paper, the animal seemed to literally melt into a puddle of charcoal black, the newly-formed liquid dancing across the white sheet like miniature black acrobats.

_'Even the way Sai's message arranges itself is like art,' _Sakura snorted with a tint of envy, gazing interestedly upon the message continuing to reveal itself.

_Many years ago at the Uchiwa Festival,__  
__From a single root of a tree I found Omoikane's sake.__  
__Even in the lair where all aged wealth resides,__  
__One will not find satisfaction._

_'I've always had a knack for these,' _the pinkette thought excitedly.

_**'Uchiwa... referring to Uchiha, of course. The first line's probably talking about some event in the past related to the Uchihas.'**_

_'The massacre, I'm assuming. That sounds about right. The second line... if I'm correct, another member of Root gave Sai Omoikane-sama, the god of wisdom's "sake". Information, basically. I wonder who... Sai isn't the type to trust others so easily. Shin...? Well, anyway...'_

_**'Lair where all aged wealth resides?'**_

_'Secret Root lair, which is god knows where... One will not find satisfaction. So... what we're looking for isn't there. I wonder what Danzo had to do with the Uchihas which would make him deliberately hide information.'_

_**'Okay. Well, that was totally helpful.'**_

Ignoring Inner Sakura, the pinkette continued, _'It's reconfirming what we know. And it's... also a warning, I reckon. A direct approach won't work. Well, at least it isn't as bad as it could've been...'_

"We have finished assembling the stands. Please line up in your teams!"

* * *

"Let's go for that Rock Lee kid! I wanna pummel his ass!" Naruto shouted, grinning widely, his expression of set determination bared for all to see.

Sasuke, still bitter over his defeat, scowled. "No. First things first, we should cover some distance, get relatively close to the tower _and then_ head for him. Let's get this over with as soon as possible."

Naruto, rolling his eyes at first, cheered in agreement once Sasuke had finished.

Sakura, on the other hand, sighed, simply muttering, "Let's just find a group we can take on easily, alright?"

"Aw, come on Sakura-chan, we're pretty good, aren't we? We can take on -"

"The preliminaries are soon after this. The sooner we arrive, the longer we'll have to rest."

"Preliminaries?" Naruto and Sasuke echoed, both sharing the same puzzled look.

Mentally cursing herself, she continued, "I, er, overheard some Chunin yesterday. There are a lot of us this year, more than expected. They're... uhm, thinking of having a preliminary round to weed the weaker ones out."

"Makes sense," Sasuke replied as the three neared their gates. They fell silent as they stepped within hearing range of the Chunin guarding their entrance, donned in the tell-tale monotone grey uniform.

"Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and... Naruto Uzumaki of Hatake Kakashi's Team Seven," the young man announced, looking up from the clipboard he held. After comparing the photos he had been provided with the genin standing before him, he nodded, but not before scoffing subtly at the blond demon container.

"Watch it, you," Sakura remarked harshly, both ignoring her teammates' questioning looks and the man's startled reaction.

Meanwhile, Anko, who had been looking at her watch, nodded with a smirk towards two of the administrative Chunin. They promptly deactivated the electrifying jutsu surrounding the steel barriers of the Forest, the dull hum of energy gradually dying down. Slowly, each genin team fell silent, tensing with awareness.

The Chunin patrolling each gate entrance pulled a key from their pockets, grasping the heavy lock and inserting the key into the heavy metal.

"Alright you three," he voiced cheerily as if the previous exchange between him and the pinkette had not happened. "Good luck."

"The second stage of the chunin exam has officially begun!"

* * *

They leapt like acrobats, dancing across the branches fluidly as they made use of the terrain they were given. While Sasuke and Naruto moved with excitement running in their veins, Sakura was incredibly apprehensive.

Ever since they had entered, she had been contemplating going an entirely different route than the direct one they had took last time in order to prevent their meeting with Orochimaru and hopefully delay it to a further time - for not even an hour into the exams, and already the three had begun to feel the strain of heavy travel. Not one of them, however, attempted to voice their physical strain. Sakura rolled her eyes - it was so typical of them, to treat even the _Chunin _exams as the basis for their rivalry. But she had to admit, even she was unwilling to complain. She grimaced. She _did not _want to be the one dragging them down this time. Doubt and indecisiveness plagued her, however; she fought a furious battle in her mind with Inner Sakura as an amused witness. But even her second half finally grew irritated of her constant mental mumbling, telling Sakura to shut up and just deal with the guy, already. Thus Team 7 continued to journey under the cool shade the large canopy of trees provided them.

But the longer they spent within the Forest of Death, the larger her doubts grew. Could she defeat Orochimaru, if necessary? True, she had grown considerably under the tutelage of Tsunade-shishou, but even she was simply a chunin, not an ANBU. Not to mention... she cursed as she nearly missed a branch - her shorter, untoned legs and arms had proven difficult to handle when travelling and throwing projectiles, hindering her performance as she slowly struggled to get used to her old body.

She sighed. "Sasuke-kun, Naruto," she called, not slowing the slightest hesitation in her step.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?" Naruto replied just a branch away from her.

"I have an idea," she answered in-between pants. "Let's take to the mountains on the left."

"The mountains?" Sasuke, three branches in front, sounded utterly confused. "Why the - oh."

Naruto cocked his head. "Huh? But it'll be easier for us to be seen, and rocks are harder to travel on!"

Sakura nodded, "Exactly. With luck, most will avoid the area. But it'll also make it easier for us to avoid traps and spot enemies too. Most ninja are used to travelling by forests, anyway." _And it'll make it easier for Anko-san and the others to spot us if - rather, when - Orochimaru finds us as well..._

Sasuke frowned. "I don't know... It'll be hard." He glanced back towards his teammates with a smirk. "But it's worth a try. Let's go."

* * *

"Why hello there, Ryousei. I see Anko-chan's taken a particular liking to you now." The tone of the speaker's voice did nothing to contradict the unbecoming smirk it caused.

"Orochimaru-ssssama," the snake bowed its' head rather mockingly, gazing bemusedly down at the ninja before it. "You reek of Kussssa-nin."

Orochimaru - rather, the grass-nin licked her lips. "Tell Anko-chan I said hello, won't you?"

"You were alwayssss ssso.. ingrateful, Orochi-." The snake paused, its' sleek tongue flitting between its' jaws. "Ssseemss I've been ssssummoned. I guessss I'll be doing you a favour after all."

Smoke engulfed the serpent and the branches surrounding it. By the time the translucent clouds had dissipated, it was gone.

Glancing towards the two accomplices, he hissed quietly, "They're close. I've sent Ikaku after the others. With luck, the brat will be all alone, ready for the seal. Let's go."

* * *

Aaaand goodbye chapter sixteen! I'm really hoping to start fleshing out Sai as well as really have some Sakura-awesomeness now that we've finally arrived at the Forest of Death segment. Sai's return to his former body is approximately right before Danzo is aware of Sai and Shin's emotional bond, as illustrated by the flashbacks and Danzo's former actions last chapter. Hopefully something different will happen this time. :)


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